Immigration Bill Survives Procedural Hurdle
June 26, 2007

By Patricia Guadalupe

The U.S. Senate today voted 64-35 on a parliamentary procedure to continue debate on the bipartisan immigration reform bill. A similar vote failed two weeks ago.

The vote in no way guarantees the bill's eventual passage. Some of the Republicans who supported the debate have indicated they ultimately may vote against the measure that the nation's Republican president has invested much political capital into.

For example, Minority Whip Trent Lott, R-Miss., said that voting to proceed with the bill did not necessarily mean he was supporting it.

President Bush, speaking earlier in the day to a group of business leaders, expressed optimism on the bill's fate, calling it a "historic opportunity for Congress to act."

"The first thing that we've got to recognize in the country is that the system isn't working," he said. "The immigration system needs reform. The status quo is unacceptable. If you dislike the status quo on immigration, then you ought to be supporting a comprehensive approach to making sure the system works. And it's a practical approach."

Additional remarks on the bill caused a bit of controversy, however, when the president referred to the bill as "amnesty," a term the White House has judiciously avoided. "You know, I've heard all the rhetoric -- you've heard it, too -- about how this is amnesty. Amnesty means that you've got to pay a price for having been here illegally, and this bill does that."

The president "misspoke," said White House Press Secretary Tony Snow. "This has been construed as an assertion that the comprehensive immigration reform legislation before the Senate offers amnesty to immigrants who came here illegally," he said. "That is the exact opposite of the president's long-held and often-stated position."

The measure, which includes a path to legalization for millions of undocumented immigrants, a guest worker program, and a proposal to grant in-state tuition for undocumented high school graduates, still faces significant opposition in the Senate, which is expected to start voting on the measure this Thursday.

Meanwhile, over on the House side, where supporters of the bipartisan bill have an even more tenuous hold, opponents are expected to introduce a largely symbolic resolution this afternoon rejecting the Senate vote.

"A growing majority of House Republicans are uncomfortable with the product and process of the Senate immigration bill," said the resolution's sponsor, Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich. "A public hearing has never been held on it, and it was crafted in secret by only 12 senators and two cabinet officials."

Source: HispanicBusiness(dot) com (c) 2007. All rights reserved.

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