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  1. #1
    Administrator Jean's Avatar
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    Immigration bill fails crucial vote in Senate

    June 8, 2007, 12:33AM
    Immigration bill fails crucial vote in Senate
    This summer could be last chance for Bush's top domestic initiative


    By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT
    Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

    WASHINGTON — The Senate effort to overhaul the nation's dysfunctional immigration system collapsed Thursday night as both parties deadlocked over a bill that received only tepid support from the public, business and immigrant-rights interests.

    Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., yanked the bill from floor consideration but suggested there might be a way to revive it "within the next several weeks."

    "I have every desire to complete this legislation," Reid said after the measure's supporters fell 15 votes short of the 60 needed to cut off debate and pave the way for a final vote.

    Failure to return to the bill this summer could doom any chance for Congress to act before the 2008 elections on President Bush's top domestic initiative.

    It was not immediately clear whether the Senate's action would affect the House's planned debate in July. But Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif., the Congressional Hispanic Caucus chairman, expressed his doubts. "You can't negotiate if the bill doesn't get out of the Senate," he said.

    The bill, drafted by a dozen senators from both parties working behind closed doors with the Bush administration, proposed what supporters deemed a "grand bargain" to bring the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants out of the shadows, re-order the legal immigration system, tighten border security and crack down on rogue employers.

    Reid's move to pull the bill came after a majority of Republicans, joined by a minority of Democrats, refused twice on Thursday to cut off debate on the bill, which had come under sustained attack from liberal and conservative senators during two weeks of Senate debate. The definitive vote Thursday night came after a day of furious negotiations behind the scenes to salvage the bill.

    Reid blamed the White House and Republicans for failing to corral conservative critics. "This has been a very difficult time," he said after the vote. "There's been a lot of bending over backwards to accommodate people who wanted to offer amendments."


    'A parade of horribles'
    GOP lawmakers insisted they had been denied meaningful opportunities to amend the legislation. Republicans said Reid rebuffed a late-day GOP offer to whittle down the number of Republican amendments, instead forcing the showdown Thursday night.

    "I think we were very close to getting there," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

    But Democrats insisted GOP critics were using endless amendments to take it down.

    "What we've seen is a parade of horribles," said Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill. "Amendment after amendment offered by Republicans who will never vote for this immigration bill trying to embarrass those who support it, trying to put Democrats on the spot."

    Texas' two Republican senators, Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, were deeply skeptical of the legalization program and never committed to support the final bill. They voted against cutting off the debate, hoping to preserve the right to offer more amendments. Both Texans expressed disappointment at the outcome, blaming Reid for forcing the showdown.

    "The irony is if he (Reid) had given us another couple of days and an opportunity to vote on a dozen amendments, I think we could have concluded the vote," Cornyn said.

    Said Hutchison: "I hope it's a temporary setback. I just don't see how we can come this far, work this hard and just stop."

    Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, the deal's lead Democratic advocate, vowed to continue the fight.

    "The vote was obviously a big disappointment, but it makes no sense to fold our tent," Kennedy said.

    In the end, the compromises required to hold together the fragile alliance created a bill that generated little enthusiasm within either party — or the special interests lobbying aggressively for an immigration fix.

    High-tech firms, the hospitality industry and other business interests complained the bill didn't offer enough green cards for foreign workers. Organized labor was chilly to the temporary worker program that would bring in 200,000 foreigners a year, viewing them as a means to depress wages for Americans. Immigrant-rights and religious organizations bridled at the plan to favor highly skilled workers over relatives. Conservative interests argued the bill wouldn't do enough to thwart future illegal immigration.


    Poll: Public doesn't like it
    The public, according to a poll released Thursday by the Pew Research Center, has a largely negative reaction towards the bill — perhaps explaining why senators from both parties hardened their positions in the last few days.

    The survey concluded that 41 percent of those who knew something about the bill oppose it, with just one-third favoring it. Still, the poll reconfirmed what many others have found: that a sizable majority of Americans favor legalization if illegal immigrants pay fines and back taxes, and learn English.

    The bill's advocates off Capitol Hill were disappointed.

    "We fear the result was a matter of politicians — particularly Republicans — not wanting to confront obstinate members of their own parties in order to let the majority's will, and the people's will, prevail," said Frank Sharry, head of the National Immigration Forum.

    But the bill's conservative critics were thrilled.

    "Our neighborhoods across our country have spoken loud and clear, and the United States Senate heard their concerns — this bill is dead," said Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Calif., chairman of the House Immigration Reform Caucus, which deemed the Senate bill an amnesty.

    http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4872389.html
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  2. #2
    Senior Member IndianaJones's Avatar
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    "The vote was obviously a big disappointment, but it makes no sense to fold our tent," Kennedy said.

    Kennedy is a much bigger disappointment!!! When the circus is over, it makes perfect sense to fold the tent!
    We are NOT a nation of immigrants!

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