Lawmakers pursue remnants of failed bill
Staff and agencies
29 June, 2007

By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer 5 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Hours after a massive immigration bill collapsed in the Senate, lawmakers and lobbyists began seeking ways to pass bits and pieces of the measure important to their constituents.

The program is considered relatively popular, as is another piece of the stalled bill: the DREAM Act, or Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. It would create a path to legality for illegal immigrants planning to attend college or join the military and who came to the United States with their families before they turned 16.

In an interview earlier this week, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. — a backer of the sidetracked immigration bill — said the one-at-a-time approach may prove impossible, even for tougher border-enforcement measures that now seem popular.

Other Republicans, especially in the House, disagree. All immigration-related proposals should be postponed, they said, until the Mexican border is secured.

Some lawmakers immediately urged President Bush to accept defeat on the wide-ranging bill and ask Congress for an emergency spending bill for more border enforcement activities. "That would be a great next step after this vote," said Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who opposed the bill.

There should be "a very strong sense of urgency in this country to simply carry out the law, the mandate, for 854 miles of fence that we passed" in the 109th Congress, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., told reporters Thursday. "They‘ve only built 13 miles of the fence so far. Let‘s get it built before the next hot season."

House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., was asked if his caucus would support Ag jobs by itself. Most Republicans would back a similar program, he said, but he added: "The concern that House Republicans have and have had for some time now is the order in which these things are accomplished. You have securing the border, being sure that workers who are here appropriately are here with ID that‘s verifiable, that‘s reasonably hard to duplicate."

The immigration bill‘s collapse forces all key players to rethink their next moves. Individual components may gain support in the coming weeks, but it won‘t be easy, several lawmakers said.

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