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Immigration overhaul in limbo

Disagreement on amendments is among the stumbling blocks as Senators vote against stopping debate and voting on measure.

By DENA BUNIS
The Orange County Register

WASHINGTON – The immigration overhaul bill hung by a thread today as lawmakers voted overwhelmingly against ending debate and taking a vote on what would be the most sweeping overhaul of the system in decades.

And there has been plenty of blame to go around for the missteps and chaos that have surrounded the process for the past 24 hours.

"I think we need the record to reflect this bill isn't going anyplace but it's not our fault,'' Majority Leader Harry Reid said this afternoon during one of many appearances he made on the Senate floor to explain the latest events.

This morning, Reid had insisted on a vote to end debate because, he said, the Senate must move on to such pressing business as a no confidence vote on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, an energy bill and continuing debate on the Iraq war. Reid had originally planned one week of debate for the immigration bill, but lawmakers are closing in on their second week of considering the measure.

Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said his members would not be "shut out" and that they needed more time to bring up amendments to modify the package. The GOP has been severely split on this issue and more Republicans than Democrats have been expected to vote no on final passage.

Beyond the political maneuvering, some substantive issues arose over the past day that further jeopardized the bill.

The fact that the amendment by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., which ends the temporary worker program after five years, passed, sent GOP senators and their business interests to the mat. And a measure by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, that would give information about illegal immigrants applying for the new Z visa to law enforcement was denounced by Democrats and immigration advocates.

The vote tally to stop debate was 33-63. McConnell was able to hold together his GOP caucus on this morning's vote. Not a single Republican voted to end debate. But Reid lost 15 Democrats who voted no.

The majority leader put the onus on President Bush to deliver Republican votes to stop debate, vote on the bill and send the measure to the House.

"This is the president's bill," Reid said on the floor before the cloture vote. Reid said he talked with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff late last night and told him that the administration needed to round up GOP votes or Bush would be blamed for the bill's failure.

Yet the cloture vote shows that some Democrats – even those who haven't decided how to vote – believe there hasn't yet been enough debate on the bill.

Sen. Barbara Boxer was among the Democrats who opposed the cloture motion. She said she hasn't decided how to vote if the bill comes up for a final vote but made it clear she believes more time is needed for debate.

"This bill needs to be simplified, it needs to be clarified, it needs to be rectified before I can support it," said Boxer, D-Calif. "I don't think the bill is workable. I think it hurts American workers. The amendment process didn't make it any stronger for me.''

Boxer supports the legalization plan, particularly the agricultural worker piece and the section that allows illegal immigrant students to get legal status. But she strongly opposes the temporary worker program, which she called "a slap at American workers.''

Right after the cloture vote, lawmakers began debating a new set of amendments. But leaders were unable to get an agreement on how long to debate each one. And Reid's attempt to move the process along was thwarted by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. Sessions, a staunch opponent of the bipartisan compromise that has driven the debate in the past few days, insisted on 45 minutes of debate per amendment, something that immediately sent leaders huddling on the floor in an attempt to figure out how to move the process along.

Sen. Trent Lott, a former majority leader, told reporters early today that he believed both Dorgan's and Cornyn's amendments could be "fixed" if everyone cooperated and worked in good faith.

"If everybody will just keep calm, keep cool, we'll find a way to get it done,'' said Lott, R-Tenn.