Immigration: Reid Promises Repeat of 'Open' Farm Bill Debate...Where 95% of Amendments Blocked

by Matthew Boyle 7 Jun 2013, 2:18 PM PDT
breitbart.com



On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he would not allow Senators to file any amendments to the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill when the full Senate takes up the legislation next week.

“I have committed to open as possible a process for amendments,” Reid said on the Senate floor Friday morning. “I don’t want to say totally open because sometimes with the procedures we have here, as with the Farm Bill, people throw monkey wrenches into things and we’re not able to do as we want to do."

"But we’ll wrap this legislation up before the July 4 recess," he declared. "I hope senators will take advantage of today’s time for debate. I look forward to a thorough and thoughtful discussion and deliberation of this legislation in the days ahead.”

Reid’s comparison to the Farm Bill's amendment process means that senators will likely not be able to vote on any real amendments as he will block most if not all of them.

For the Farm Bill, 259 amendments were filed. Of those 259 amendments, only 10 received a roll call vote. Four passed and six were defeated. There was another amendment brought up by voice vote, and three more amendments passed via unanimous consent.

Ultimately, that means less than 5 percent of the amendments filed received a roll call vote.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...own-amendments