Thread: House of doom (again) for immigration bill

Originally posted: May 31, 2007
House of doom (again) for immigration bill
Posted by Frank James at 10:03 am CDT

Here's yet another reason why the immigration-reform legislation being debated in the Senate (when it's not in recess as it is now) has a high probability of winding up where last year's effort did--on history's scrap heap.

It's a House procedure called the "blue-slip" which House conservatives are very likely to use to throttle the legislation. As The Hill publication reports:

House conservatives are ready to stop the Senate immigration bill in its tracks with a potent procedural weapon should the contentious measure win passage in the upper chamber.
The trump card conservatives may hold is a constitutional rule that revenue-related bills must originate in the House. The Senate immigration measure requires that illegal immigrants pay back taxes before becoming citizens, opening the door to a House protest, dubbed a “blue slipâ€

My Congressman (John Linder) had a teleconference town hall meeting last night. He said that (and I quote) "when the Senate bill hits the House, it's going south".

I love John Linder.

This is great news!