Thread: Kennedy, Eager for Republican Support, Shifts Tactics

March 13, 2007
Kennedy, Eager for Republican Support, Shifts Tactics on an Immigration Measure

By RACHEL L. SWARNS
WASHINGTON, March 12 — Facing a rebellion from some crucial Republicans, Senator Edward M. Kennedy has abandoned efforts to produce a new immigration bill and is proposing using legislation produced last March by the Senate Judiciary Committee, then controlled by Republicans, as the starting point for negotiations this year, lawmakers said Monday.

Mr. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who is a principal architect of immigration legislation in the Senate, now controlled by Democrats, said he was shifting gears in hopes of winning Republican support and speeding the passage of immigration legislation this spring. Four of 10 Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted last year for the committee’s bill, which would tighten border security, create a temporary worker program and legalize illegal immigrants.

President Bush said Monday in Guatemala that he hoped to see an immigration bill completed by the fall and that he was working with Republicans to define a position most could support. “If we don’t have enough consensus,” Mr. Bush said, “nothing is going to move out of the Senate.”

Mr. Kennedy and a Republican colleague, Senator John McCain of Arizona, had spent several months trying to produce a new immigration bill that was expected to be introduced this month. But several Republicans protested that they had been shut out of the negotiations. They began drafting their own bill, led by Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the Republican moderate who led the debate on immigration in the Judiciary Committee last year.

Meanwhile, Mr. McCain, who led Republican lawmakers in championing immigration legislation last year, has appeared to be backing away from that role, several Congressional aides said.

Conservatives have sharply criticized Mr. McCain, a leading Republican presidential candidate, for supporting efforts to put illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship.

Senior aides in both parties said Mr. McCain told several colleagues last week that he was stepping away from the bill because he was troubled by labor provisions it included. Eileen McMenamin, a spokeswoman for Mr. McCain, disputed that assertion, saying he “remains committed to passing a comprehensive immigration bill.”

Mr. Kennedy said that he hoped Mr. McCain would continue to be deeply involved in the push for immigration legislation but that he would “certainly understand” if he could not be, given the demands of the presidential campaign.

“We will value as much time and effort and energy as he can put into this,” Mr. Kennedy said in an interview. “I recognize that he’s a presidential candidate and that’s going to take a big part of his time.”

Mr. Kennedy dismissed the notion that his efforts to produce a new immigration bill had failed. He said he had decided that the committee report was “the best starting point” because it had bipartisan support and because it would allow lawmakers to move swiftly toward passage, with a vote as early as May.

“We’ve had extensive hearings on the essential aspects of this bill,” Mr. Kennedy said. “We are effectively ready for markup and going to the floor.”

Mr. Specter, who said Mr. Kennedy first suggested the new approach on the Senate floor on Friday, said he was still weighing whether to support it. He said he and several Republican lawmakers had met with White House officials when it became clear they would not be included in the negotiations between Mr. Kennedy and Mr. McCain.

“We’ve gotten fairly far along on the outlines of a bill,” said Mr. Specter. “Nonetheless, I think it is desirable to work jointly with the Democrats.”

Mr. Specter said he would consult with his Republican colleagues and White House officials before deciding. The bill passed by the Judiciary Committee did not include several measures included in last year’s Senate legislation, including a provision to compel several million illegal immigrants to leave the United States before applying for citizenship.

Mr. McCain declined a request for an interview, but Ms. McMenamin said he supported Mr. Kennedy’s approach. “The most important thing is that they come to some sort of consensus on immigration reform,” she said. “This is a good way to arrive at it.” She said Mr. McCain had told his staff to remain deeply involved in negotiations on the legislation.

http://link.toolbot.com/nytimes.com/68961

The bill passed by the Judiciary Committee did not include several measures included in last year’s Senate legislation, including a provision to compel several million illegal immigrants to leave the United States before applying for citizenship.

What??? In fact, I didn't understand the point of the article. Is this some kind of warning to McCain???

Senator Edward M. Kennedy has abandoned efforts to produce a new immigration bill and is proposing using legislation produced last March by the Senate Judiciary Committee

Pence-Hutchison, McCain-Kennedy...

Can you say S2611 Amnesty Bill?

Dixie

Mr. Specter said he would consult with his Republican colleagues and White House officials before deciding.The bill passed by the Judiciary Committee did not include several measures included in last year’s Senate legislation, including a provision to compel several million illegal immigrants to leave the United States before applying for citizenship.


HEY! I have a unique idea HOW ABOUT CONSULTING WITH THE AMERICAN PUBLIC............FIND OUT WHAT WE THINK......oh that rights you already know...HOW about caring what WE THINK!!!!??

Mr. Kennedy dismissed the notion that his efforts to produce a new immigration bill had failed. He said he had decided that the committee report was “the best starting point” because it had bipartisan support and because it would allow lawmakers to move swiftly toward passage, with a vote as early as May.

Mr Kennedy is indeed living in a vacuum! Perhaps his proximity to Mr. McCain has driven him into what most spineless creatures of the earth (worms) prefer---a moist, hot pile of composted garbage?

I prefer to view the Senate as a type of "Stepford Wives" scenario. In this case the Senators are doing the servicing of their corporate masters, and hope that the rest of us do not discover their secret!

Kennedy moves to spur immigration debate

The senator decides to bring back a bill from last session for consideration.

By DENA BUNIS

Mar 12, 2007

The Orange County Register
WASHINGTONIn an effort to speed up consideration of a comprehensive immigration bill, Sen. Edward Kennedy wants to bring the measure adopted by last year's Senate Judiciary Committee back to that panel as a starting point for debate, his office said on Monday.

"He strongly feels we have to get moving,'' said Kennedy's communications director Laura Capps. "The Judiciary Committee is well familiar with and invested in this bill.''

Kennedy and his partner in this effort, Sen. John McCain, have been working for months to come to an agreement on what should be in a new broad immigration overhaul bill. They had hoped to introduce a new bill by this week. Going back to a measure that had bipartisan support in last year's Judiciary panel underscores the difficulty the two have had in reaching an accord on something that is fraught with political and policy complexity and controversy.

Kennedy finally decided this past weekend to try this new approach. The Massachusetts Democrat, his staff said, was greatly affected by a raid in his home state where 361 illegal workers were picked up by federal immigration officers at a leather-goods factory. Most of those arrested were women with children who were left with no one to care for them.

McCain, R-Ariz., is on board on this approach.

"Sen. McCain certainly thinks this is a good place to start as long as it's a bipartisan effort,'' said McCain spokeswoman Melissa Shuffield. "This still has to be amended. This still has to be debated and he'll be working with people on both sides of the aisle and the White House to come to an agreement on some kind of comprehensive reform."

What was not clear Monday was what Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and the senior Republican on the panel, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., think of this idea. What Kennedy is suggesting is that the bill that Specter shepherded through last year's Judiciary panel be the starting point now. Leahy would have to agree to Kennedy's stragegy for it to go forward.

The bill that passed the Judiciary panel last spring differed from what the Senate ultimately passed on May 25. But the basic principles were the same. Both had enhanced border enforcement, a requirement for employers to electronically verify that their employees are legally entitled to work here, a new program for future guest workers and a plan for a path to legalization and citizenship for many of the 12 million undocumented immigrants living here now.

Perhaps the biggest differences between what emerged from committee and what was passed on the floor were in the legalization plans.

The committee bill would have given a path to legal status and citizenship to anyone who had been in the U.S. as of Jan. 7, 2004 and who had learned English, paid a fine and back taxes, and had a clean criminal record and work history.

Enough Republican senators balked at that provision that in the end, a three-tiered scheme was crafted that allowed only those illegal immigrants here longer than five years to get on the citizenship path. Others had to go home to apply to become a guest worker. And those here less than two years had to go home.

Another difference was in the guest worker plan.

Under the committee bill there would be 400,000 new guest workers each year and that number could have increased if market needs demanded it. By the time the Senate passed the bill, the escalator clause was dropped and the number of new guest workers was cut to 200,000.

The questions this year are which way will the Senate go and will something pass that chamber that has a chance in the House.

The negotiations on a new bill not only involved McCain and Kennedy but two key House players – Reps. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. A spokesman for Gutierrez said the two are continuing to work on a bill they plan to introduce soon.

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/ne ... 616899.php

Facing a rebellion from some crucial Republicans, Senator Edward M. Kennedy has abandoned efforts to produce a new immigration bill and is proposing using legislation produced last March by the Senate Judiciary Committee, then controlled by Republicans, as the starting point for negotiations this year, lawmakers said Monday.

Bill S2611! Ha! NO WAY JOSE! Has Kennedy and McCain REALLY abandoned the new bill they were working on behind closed doors, OR, are they planning to slide it through under the radar, by "must pass legislation"? I don't trust these 2 cooks.

Kennedy finally decided this past weekend to try this new approach. The Massachusetts Democrat, his staff said, was greatly affected by a raid in his home state where 361 illegal workers were picked up by federal immigration officers at a leather-goods factory.

Hey Kennedy, regular Americans have to deal with illegal immigrants on a daily basis, and we are getting fed up with their being here and stealing American jobs.

The committee bill would have given a path to legal status and citizenship to anyone who had been in the U.S. as of Jan. 7, 2004 and who had learned English, paid a fine and back taxes, and had a clean criminal record and work history.

That is crazy! No legal status or citizenship to illegal aliens, PERIOD. Paying a fine, learning english and paying back taxes, will not de-criminalize them. DEPORT THEM! ENFORCEMENT ONLY. ENFORCEMENT THE LAWS ALREADY ON THE BOOKS.
NO COMPROMISES -NO ILLEGAL ALIEN TUITION BREAKS- NO PATHWAY TO CITIZENSHIP, NO EARNED CITIZENSHIP, NO SENDING THEM OVER THE BORDER ONLY TO PASS OUT GREEN CARDS AND WELCOMING THEM BACK. NO NO NO!

In order to be given consideration you need to have credibility. Teddy has absolutely zero credibility when it comes to the immigration issue. Why is he given a say at all? He is a liar, proven time and time again and has purposely lead the invasion for over 40 years.

Originally Posted by AlturaCt

In order to be given consideration you need to have credibility. Teddy has absolutely zero credibility when it comes to the immigration issue. Why is he given a say at all? He is a liar, proven time and time again and has purposely lead the invasion for over 40 years.

That may be true but let's give credit where credit's due, ok?

Teddy THE SWIMMER happens to be an AUTOMOTIVE SPECIALIST and I do feel strongly that he should be recognized for his achievment.

don't you?

sis you have a point!