From: Anne Manetas NumbersUSA
Date: FRIDAY 7APR06 11:30 a.m. EDT

CONGRATULATIONS: Amnesty Stalls in the Senate

CONGRATULATIONS: Amnesty Stalls in the Senate

You have achieved a tremendous victory. The Senate amnesty bill is stalled in the Seante. The Senate has just voted 36-62 against invoking cloture on the Frist immigration proposal.

No. 1: CONGRATULATIONS! You have just achieved something that NO ONE in the Senate believed was possible.

Those of you may have seen the Washington Post this morning or heard NPR, awoke to the same news report that most Americans saw. Essentially, the major news media were all reporting this morning that a deal had been struck and an amnesty bill would be passed by the Senate TODAY.

Well, apparently they forgot to consider one element in all this: the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have been phoning, faxing, and visiting their Senators all week to Stop Amnesty.

You achieved this major victory.

This morning, as we already reported to you, the Senate voted against a cloture motion on the Hagel-Martinez amnesty, effectively killing any chance that amnesty had of moving forward today. Here is a link to the earlier vote on Hagel-Martinez . Note: Due to procedural maneurverings, the vote says it was a cloture vote on the Specter amendment, but it contained the language of the Hagel-Martinez compromise-amnesty.

Immediately after that vote, the Senate voted on cloture on the Frist immigration proposal, S. 2454. Quite unexpectedly, the cloture motion on Frist also failed by a vote of 36-62.

This leaves the Frist bill on the Senate floor indefinitely. But there will be no more immigration-related votes today.

No. 2: TODAY'S WERE TACTICAL VICTORIES, THE BATTLE IS NOT OVER.

The Senate is expected to recess today for two weeks. Our mission for the next two weeks is to make each and every Senator acutely aware that their constituents oppose amnesty/guestworker programs and do not want to see overall immigration numbers increased.

You can be sure the pro-amnesty forces will immediately regroup and begin applying heavy pressure for an amnesty/guestworker program (after they quit scratching their heads and asking just how this amnesty slipped through their fingers). Unless Senators hear a steady drumbeat of "No Amnesty/Guestworker" from their constituents while they are home on recess, we will be in exactly the same position we were in this morning in two weeks: staring down one of the largest amnesties in U.S. history.

That is why, over the next two weeks, we will be giving you plenty of opportunities to phone, fax, and visit your Senators to make sure they are under such seige from their constituents.

I just got off the phone with our Director of Government Relations, Rosemary Jenks, and she asked me to THANK YOU and tell you to TAKE THE WEEKEND OFF and then come back rested and ready to go to work over the next two weeks. (Those of you who know what a workaholic Rosemary is know it is a big deal for her to take the weekend off, so enjoy it!).

No. 3: Check our VOTE DAY page later today for a link to the roll call vote on the cloture vote on the Frist bill. There you will be able to see how your Senators voted.

www.NumbersUSA.com

THANK YOU Thank you for your indefatigable effort throughout this entire battle. You endless faxes, phone calls and visits to your elected officials absolutely made the difference in this battle. Please know that every one of your emails were read and shared among the entire NumbersUSA staff.

I hope you will find a way to celebrate this tactical victory over the weekend. On a personal note, I will celebrate my son's first birthday tomorrow and I will be thinking of all of you, the thousands of patriotic, hardworking Americans who took place in the democratic process this week to help ensure a less congested future and a better quality of life for future generations of Americans. I am humbled by your tireless efforts on behalf of so many.

The war is not over, but the battle today is won. On behalf of your entire NumbersUSA team, THANK YOU!

-- ANNE

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