McCain Defends His Immigration Reform
By: Joe Murray, The Bulletin
07/15/2008

Speaking before a group of Hispanic activists in San Diego yesterday, John McCain defended the role he played in trying to pass comprehensive immigration reform and blasted his presumptive Democratic rival for not being proactive in finding a solution to America's illegal immigration woes.

"I spoke recently at both the NALEO and LULAC conferences, as did Sen. [Barack] Obama. I did not use those occasions to criticize Sen. Obama. I would prefer not to do so today. But he suggested in his speeches there and here, that I turned my back on comprehensive reform out of political necessity. I feel I must, as they say, correct the record," Mr. McCain told those attending the National Council of La Raza convention yesterday.

At issue was Mr. McCain's support of a comprehensive immigration bill, dubbed the McCain-Kennedy bill, which critics argued granted de facto amnesty to illegal immigrants already in the country.

The crux of the battle was fought between Mr. McCain, who was unyielding in his defense of the measure, and border-security advocates in his own party. The bill was defeated and Mr. McCain's campaign was thought to have gone down with the ship.

"At a moment of great difficulty in my campaign, when my critics said it would be political suicide for me to do so, I helped author with Sen. Kennedy comprehensive immigration reform, and fought for its passage," Mr. McCain said.

"I took my lumps for it without complaint," he said. "My campaign was written off as a lost cause," arguing his stood by the bill "because I believed it was the right thing to do for Hispanic Americans" and "it was the right thing to do for all Americans."

But in the aftermath of the legislative defeat, Mr. McCain redefined his position telling voters he had heard their frustration over the problems on America's border with Mexico. He adjusted his campaign message to include a pledge to secure the border before he would pursue any further comprehensive agreements.

While speaking at the La Raza convention, Mr. McCain did not indicate he would go back on his pledge to secure the border, but did suggest he had not forgotten why comprehensive immigration reform is needed.

"We can't let immigrants break our laws with impunity. We can't leave our borders undefended," Mr. McCain proclaimed. "But these people are God's children, who wanted simply to be Americans, and we cannot forget the humanity God commands of us as we seek a remedy to this problem."

Mr. Obama, in an effort to woo Hispanic voters, has recently stepped up his criticism of Mr. McCain immigration policy charging him with pandering to his conservative base at the expense of Latino voters.

"McCain used to buck his party on immigration by fighting for comprehensive reform - and I admired him for it," Mr. Obama said when he addressed the La Raza convention on Sunday.

"But when he was running for his party's nomination, he abandoned his courageous stance, and said that he wouldn't even support his own legislation if it came up for a vote. Well, I don't know about you, but I think it's time for a president who won't walk away from something as important as comprehensive reform when it becomes politically unpopular."

Mr. McCain, however, chastised his rival for spending too much time talking and not enough time acting.

"Sen. Obama declined to cast some of those tough votes," Mr. McCain said in referring the Kennedy immigration bill battle. "He voted for and even sponsored amendments that were intended to kill the legislation, amendments that Senator Kennedy and I voted against."

Mr. McCain also used his speech to the Latino organization to highlight his economic plan and make his case for building an America that can perform in the global economy.
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