Thread: IL: Johnson won't vote for immigration bill

Johnson won't vote for immigration bill
By John Faddoul/Staff Reporter
Published: Friday, June 1, 2007 6:49 PM CDT


U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson will vote against the immigration bill that President Bush is supporting, and he doesn't want too many changes in the new farm bill.

Those were two of the topics the Republican from Urbana touched on as he spoke to and took questions from the audience Thursday at the annual, noon luncheon held each May for him by the Pontiac Area Chamber of Commerce.

Johnson predicted that President Bush and Senate supporters of the immigration reform bill will have "a real problem" trying to win House approval.


"At the end of the day, it's still amnesty," Johnson said of provisions in the legislation that provide a path to citizenship of illegals currently in the United States. "To me, that's just the wrong way to do it," Johnson said, noting that people in many countries are seeking legal immigration. He said he thinks there is a good chance "we can beat it in the House."

Unless there is a "dramatic" change in the bill, he won't vote for it, he told the audience gathered in a back room at Mary's Homestyle Restaurant. He said that portions of the bill make sense, including developing a guest worker program "that makes sense," but that he is "adamantly opposed" to the bill in its current form.

Those comments came in response to a question from Johnson's predecessor representing the 15th District, Tom Ewing, who had joined the congressman at his previous Thursday stop, the Illinois State University Farm at Lexington.



Johnson, the only one of Illinois' 19 House members to sit on the Agriculture Committee, said in answering a question that the current farm act "isn't perfect, but it's been working pretty well," and that he does not want, or expect, to see major changes in the new one. No one wants to undercut the direct payments made under the current law, he said.

But he added the the World Trade Organization and world markets "do play a role in how we structure our program." And he noted that the bill is a complex one, including rural-development, conservation, and food-stamp programs.

In his talk, Johnson had few words about Iraq, and none of the questions from the audience were about the situation there.



"I hope that when I come back here in a couple of years that we have had light at the end of the tunnel and that we have seen successful resolution of a very, very difficult situation," he said.

As a Republican, Johnson was a member of the majority party in the House since 2001 and until this year, when Democrats took control of Congress. Those recent, GOP-controlled Congresses passed measures like tax breaks and targeted economic incentives that, Johnson said, led the country "into some pretty good economic times," with low unemployment, a high-flying stock market and inflation under "relative control."

"We have a lot to preserve, and I will tell you that the leadership of this Congress is one that has not been sympathetic to a lot of those economic incentives that would provide us with more jobs," Johnson said.



The obvious exception to inflation levels, Johnson immediately added, is the price of gasoline. He said attributing the well-over $3-per-gallon cost to price gouging was "very oversimplistic."

Johnson said a "combination of solutions" will be needed for the United States' energy needs, including more domestic sources, more ethanol and wind power, and "other more long-term solutions.

Rapidly developing economies in China and India have created "a lot of market-driven" increases in oil prices, and refinery capacities in the United States also are a factor, Johnson suggested.



"It is a difficult issue, and it's one we're probably not going to conquer in our generation," Johnson said. "We just have to do the best we can." He said the first question every lunch-hour diner he spoke with after arriving at Mary's Homestyle was what could be done about gasoline prices.

http://www.pontiacdailyleader.com/artic ... news03.txt

Illinois really needs all the help it can get. I guess Chicago is almost as bad as Los Angeles.

Originally Posted by pjr40

Illinois really needs all the help it can get. I guess Chicago is almost as bad as Los Angeles.

I know Pontiac well, it's about 100 miles south of Chicago. It's a small town and nothing like Chicago.

Of course I'm glad Tim Johnson said he will vote against it, and encouraged (but not complacent) by his remarks about beating this bill in the House if need be.

BTW, has anyone heard about what the public positions are of the Blue Dog Democrats, and those new Dems in the House who supposedly ran tough on illegal immigration and beat Republicans such as JD Hayworth?

For example, the New York Times (5-27-07) stated that Harry Mitchell (of Arizona, who beat Hayworth) "supports comprehensive immigration reform" but hasn't commented on the Senate bill yet. What about the other Dems who beat Republicans?

On the Kevin James radio show tonight, he noted how Congressman John Sullivan of Oklahoma told hm only one Blue Dog will be supportive of our side. I have read other sources that differ somewhat. I know this is a tough question, but any thoughts or info anyone??

I will take every kernel of good information I can for Illinois -where I live. We got news that the driving certif. bill for illegal aliens has been shelved till the fall sessions because it was short two votes -thanks to all our calls.

Maybe some of the reps and senators would like to drive through our town....