McConnell Says Immigration Doesn't Hurt Lawmakers' Re-Election James Rowley
May 25, 2007

May 25 (Bloomberg) -- Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (news, bio, voting record) said the controversial immigration bill in Congress won't cost ``a single member of either party'' at the polls next year and predicted the bipartisan compromise will win Senate approval next month.


Most Americans want Congress to fix a system they regard as broken even though they have reservations about the proposed legislation, McConnell said in an interview on Bloomberg Television's ``Political Capital with Al Hunt.'' Public opinion, he predicted, will trump such specific concerns as whether it amounts to amnesty to grant eventual legal status to the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.

``This is a divisive issue'' for both parties, said McConnell, a Kentucky Republican. But, he said, ``I don't think there's a single member of either party next year who is going to fail to be re-elected over this issue.''

The Senate this week debated the Bush administration-backed compromise, defeating proposed amendments that could have undermined the agreement, and will return June 4 after a week- long break for the Memorial Day holiday. McConnell predicted Senate passage soon after the lawmakers reconvene. The measure's chances in the House remain uncertain, he said.

McConnell, who last year was among 23 Republicans who voted for a Senate-passed immigration bill that died in the House, said he probably will vote for the latest version.

``It's a big improvement over the bill that passed the Senate last year,'' McConnell said. ``I would rather act than not act, and I am not looking for an absolutely perfect piece of legislation.''

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20070 ... ahtddf84_1