If FAIR is saying things look bleak in Senate, then we need to turn up the heat on Senators, but also start the task of contacking our Congressional representatives to make sure they DO NOT CAVE.

Immigration bill finds bipartisan support in Senate
By DAVE MONTGOMERY
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/14208471.htm
Star-Telegram Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - A comprehensive immigration bill that answers President Bush’s call for a guest worker program appears to have enough bipartisan support to pass the Senate, guaranteeing a legislative collision with an enforcement-oriented House bill, several advocates on both sides of the issue predicted Tuesday.

"We’re in some trouble in the Senate," said Paul Egan, government relations director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which supports the House bill and opposes the guest-worker concept as a form of amnesty for illegal immigration.

The Senate may well deadlock with the House because their positions differ so radically and the issue is too politically hot in this congressional election year for lawmakers on either side to compromise. That could doom all legislation to overhaul immigration this year.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-6 Monday to advance a comprehensive measure that would put millions of illegal immigrants on track to permanent legal status and allow up to 400,000 foreign workers each year to fill low-skilled jobs.

Egan said opponents of the measure put their hopes in the 435-member House, where a coalition of conservative Republicans has vowed to kill immigration legislation that includes a guest worker plan. The 94-member coalition blocked inclusion of a guest worker program in the immigration bill the House passed in December.

The House bill also makes illegal immigration a felony and calls for 700 miles of fences along the Southwest border.

"If the Senate follows the Judiciary Committee’s lead, the prospects of getting a reform bill to the president’s desk this year are slim, to say the least," said Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., coalition leader. "No plan with amnesty and a massive increase in foreign workers will pass the House."

Egan said a "back-of-the-envelope" count of prospective votes in the Senate shows only about 10 solid votes, nearly all Republican, against the bill, while many other Republicans are undecided. The bill is thought to have strong support among Democrats.

Republicans have 55 seats in the Senate. Democrats have 44 and usually win support from the Senate’s lone independent, James Jeffords of Vermont. Pro-immigrant groups say they believe they can count on support from at least nine Republicans, and possibly as many as 14. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and three other committee Republicans - Sens. Sam Brownback of Kansas, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Mike DeWine of Ohio - voted for the bill.

"I think the Senate is probably foolish enough to pass this bill or something very close to it," said Egan, "but I don’t think the House will buy it."

Angela Kelley, deputy director of the National Immigration Forum, which supports the Senate Judiciary bill, offered a similar assessment from an opposing perspective. Democrats are "rather unified" behind the bill, she said. "You add in the Republicans who are supportive, and that’s enough to put us over the finish line."

Backers of the bill said its inclusion of a separate guest worker program for up to 1.5 million agricultural workers could bring added votes from rural-state senators.

The measure became entangled in parliamentary uncertainty Tuesday after Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., indicated that he might press ahead with a more-limited border security measure similar to the one passed earlier by the House. Senators nevertheless are expected to begin debate this week - possibly as early as Wednesday - and may vote on both measures.

Specter said that Frist’s plan is to allow a day of debate on the enforcement bill, followed by consideration of the committee bill.

Some lawmakers said it’s too early to predict the outcome in the Senate. Several committee Republicans vowed to offer amendments to change the measure on the Senate floor, including Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., co-sponsors of a rival bill that would require illegal immigrants to return home before being eligible to apply for a guest worker program.

The committee bill includes key elements of bipartisan legislation co-sponsored by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. Specter said the bill also embraces Bush’s proposed guest worker plan, although the president has not endorsed specific legislation.

"I think they (the White House) believe we’re heading in the right direction," said Specter. "We’ve picked up essentially the president’s idea on guest workers."

Asked if the president would veto legislation that does not include a guest worker provision, White House spokesman Scott McClellan reiterated Bush’s belief that "any immigration reform ought to be comprehensive ... including a guest worker program."