Thread: Immigration bill defeated, but Tancredo says issue not dead

Immigration bill defeated, but Tancredo says issue not dead

http://www.iowapolitics.com/index.iml?Article=99282

6/30/2007

By Chris Dorsey
IowaPolitics.com

DES MOINES -- Dozens of people raised their hands when Congressman Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., asked if they had contacted a member of Iowa congressional delegation about the illegal immigration bill that appears to have died Thursday in Washington, D.C.

"I think it is dead," the GOP presidential candidate said to a packed room at the Quality Inn in downtown Des Moines Friday night. "This issue is not gone. The problem is not gone."

The immigration issue is one Tancredo has crisscrossed the nation speaking about adamantly. He does not support amnesty, and calls for companies that hire illegal immigrants to be fined and punished to the full extent of the law. The law, Tancredo said, must be followed -- new laws are not required.

"I have a solution," the congressman said. "I have been screaming it from the rooftops - enforce the law."

Tancredo was soft-spoken, jovial and engaging in meeting with supporters. He stressed he wants to be president because he wants to follow the constitution and serve the American people. And, he has a habit in D.C. of voting his conscience and for his constituents - not for the party or the presidency.

He has been critical of No Child Left Behind and did not vote along GOP lines for the Medicare prescription drug benefit. And he knows it has caused a rift with the current Oval Office holder.

In the last GOP presidential debate, Tancredo said the president's adviser said he would not be welcome at the White House. If elected president, he promised to extend the same treatment.

"As you probably know, the president and I don't hit it off," he said. "I am not invited to the White House."

In Des Moines Friday night, Tancredo promised to be true to himself and the issues he stands for, like border security and replacing the current tax scheme with a flat tax or national sales tax.

"I am who I say I am. One of the things I hope to accomplish is reaffirm people's faith that this can happen that you can vote for someone who will follow through with they say they will do."

He said he would not waver or change his positions in order to get elected.

"I am for conversions," Tancredo said, repeating a line he first used in a GOP debate. "I am worried about conversions that happen not on the road to Damascus but on the road to Des Moines. They are happening. One thing I can assure you, on policy issues I have a fairly long record.

Added to Home PAge
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=N ... e&sid=2340

He has my vote