Thread: Kennedy won't seek new migrant bill

http://www.azstarnet.com/news/173237

Joint effort with McCain abandoned; year-old plan may be starting point

the new york times

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 03.13.2007

WASHINGTON — Facing a rebellion from some key Republicans, Sen. Edward Kennedy has abandoned efforts to produce a new immigration bill.

Instead, he is proposing using legislation produced last March by the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee as the starting point for negotiations this year, lawmakers said Monday.

Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who is principal architect of immigration legislation in the Senate, now controlled by Democrats, said he was shifting gears in hopes of winning Republican support and speeding the passage of immigration legislation in spring.

Four of 10 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee voted last year for the panel's bill, which would tighten border security, create a temporary-worker program and legalize the nation's illegal immigrants.
President Bush said Monday in Guatemala that he hoped to see an immigration bill completed by the fall and that he was working with Republicans to define a position that most could support.

"If we don't have enough consensus, nothing is going to move out of the Senate," Bush said.
Kennedy and a Republican colleague, John McCain of Arizona, had spent several months trying to produce a new immigration bill that was expected to be introduced this month. But several Republicans protested that they were shut out of the negotiations.
They began drafting their own bill, led by Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the Republican moderate who led the immigration debate in the Judiciary Committee last year.

Conservatives have sharply criticized McCain, a leading Republican presidential candidate, for supporting efforts to put illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship.

Kennedy dismissed the notion that his efforts to produce a brand-new immigration bill had failed. He said he had decided that the committee report was "the best starting point" because it had bipartisan support and because it would allow lawmakers to move swiftly toward passage, with a vote as early as May.

Specter, who said Kennedy first suggested the new approach on the Senate floor on Friday, said he was still weighing whether to support it. He said he and several Republican lawmakers met with White House officials when it became clear they would not be included in the negotiations between Kennedy and McCain.

"We've gotten fairly far along on the outlines of a bill," Specter said. "Nonetheless, I think it is desirable to work jointly with the Democrats."

Specter said he would consult with GOP colleagues and White House officials before deciding. The bill passed by the Judiciary Committee did not include several measures included in last year's Senate legislation, including a provision to compel several million illegal immigrants to leave the country before seeking citizenship.

Listen to this crap! Blame the Republicans because Kennedy's K Street budies got caught writing the bill. Kennedy had to abort his evil mission because he got busted.

Oh please spare me!

Dixie

Four of 10 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee voted last year for the panel's bill, which would tighten border security, create a temporary-worker program and legalize the nation's illegal immigrants.
President Bush said Monday in Guatemala that he hoped to see an immigration bill completed by the fall and that he was working with Republicans to define a position that most could support.

"If we don't have enough consensus, nothing is going to move out of the Senate," Bush said.
Kennedy and a Republican colleague, John McCain of Arizona, had spent several months trying to produce a new immigration bill that was expected to be introduced this month. But several Republicans protested that they were shut out of the negotiations.
They began drafting their own bill, led by Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the Republican moderate who led the immigration debate in the Judiciary Committee last year.

Conservatives have sharply criticized McCain, a leading Republican presidential candidate, for supporting efforts to put illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship.

Watch the SHELL GAME, lol.

It has begun

Which hand holds the AMNESTY? hmmmm

BOTH HANDS

{what a bunch of idiots}

Is this not the same Kennedy who left his Girlfriend in the car after plunging it into a lake? Anyone who believes anything out of this guys mouth is a total idiot. I would be ashamed to have said I voted for him if I was in his district.

I think he and MCCain need to come out of the closet and tell the people the truth as there is a whole lot going on there that has not been released I get the feeling.

I never voted for this drunken liberal in my life and neither has anyone in my family. Yes he did get busted and now he wants to shove the same crap from last year up there. He will get where he got last year with it, nowhere

SHELL GAME, guys..........it's just a Shell Game.

Don't believe everything they say. Watch their hands

There will be the SAME GARBAGE coming from Cornyn, Kyle and gang with Pence's fingerprints along with kennedy & mccain's on it.

Somebody{s} made some juicy deals while sucking down those drinks.

I still don't understand why specter has anything to bitch about. He fully supported S. 2611. Whether or not the drunken puke face murderer writes new legislation or not, it is still going to be just as trashy (or worse) than S. 2611 was anyway. It has everything specter supported the first time. So again, what's his beef?