Thread: Farm Bill Explodes into Debate Over Illegal Immigration

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Farm Bill Explodes into Debate Over Illegal Immigration
As the House was attempting to wrap up business for the August recess Thursday night, a debate over illegal immigration brought floor action to a screeching halt. Shortly before midnight Representatives were about to vote on final passage of the Farm Bill (H.R. 3161), which funds the Agriculture Department and Food and Drug Administration, when Representative Jerry Lewis (R-CA) offered a motion to send the bill back to committee. Importantly, however, this motion was made with instructions for the committee to adopt an amendment prohibiting all funds in H.R.3161 (including money for food stamps and housing assistance) from being used to assist illegal aliens. The vote on the Lewis motion was extremely close, with the outcome fluctuating by only two to three votes. It was at that point that chaos erupted.

According to Congress Now, the voting board posted in the chambers closed the vote at 215-213, a victory for the Lewis motion. However, it appears that despite the final posting on the board, three Representatives were allowed to switch their 'aye' votes to 'nay', changing the total to 212-216, a defeat for the Lewis motion. The vote switch happened so quickly that both parties simultaneously claimed victory, causing mass confusion on the floor. When it became clear that Leadership had declared the motion to have failed when the voting board showed the motion had prevailed, Republicans began shouting 'shame' and 'cheaters' at their Democratic colleagues. It was at that point that over 100 Republicans marched off the House floor in protest.

Overnight, House Leaders John Boehner (R-OH), Roy Blunt (R-MO), James Clyburn (D-SC), and Steny Hoyer (D-MD) met to reach a resolution on the controversy.

Friday morning, several Republicans held a press conference denouncing what they saw as an attempt by Democrats to cater to illegal aliens. Congressman Brian Bilbray (R-CA), Chairman of the House Immigration Reform Caucus, criticized House Leadership of performing "extraordinary maneuvers just so that illegal immigrants can receive taxpayer-funded benefits." Representative Todd Akin (R-MO) added, "We don't want our taxpayer money going to illegal immigrants." Representative Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) said, "[Democrats] need to go back and they need to protect the American people from having their taxpayer dollars give food stamps to illegal immigrants." Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) warned, "The American people are not going to stand still to see their taxpayers used to give benefits to those who have broken the law and come into our country illegally."

Friday afternoon, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) rejected Republican claims that a vote was stolen from them on the floor (Congress Now). "There was no mistake made last night," Pelosi told reporters today. "Apologies were given for an early announcement of a vote. It did not change the outcome of the vote." Pelosi further described the motion to send the bill back to committee "a frivolous request" and said the next step is getting "back to the order of business."
SCHIP Bill Sparks Immigration Controversy
Immigration also became a heated topic of conversation during last week's debate of the SCHIP legislation. The House and Senate took up separate versions of a bill to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Plan (SCHIP), which provides health coverage for low-income children who fail to meet Medicaid requirements. While the reauthorization of the SCHIP program was controversial for a variety of reasons, many immigration reformers in the House became upset when they learned that the House bill (H.R. 3162) relaxed certain eligibility and verification requirements, making it easier for both legal immigrants and illegal aliens to get benefits under the bill.

H.R. 3162 contains four immigration-related provisions. Section 132 gives the states the option to waive the 5-year residency requirement for lawful permanent residents who are either pregnant or under the age of 19 to receive medical benefits. Both Sections 112 and 142 allow states to relax documentary requirements for those persons under 21 applying for Medicaid benefits. Finally, Section 233 proposes a multi-million dollar grant program that would fund interpreter services for 24 medical service providers around the country.

Representatives, such as Congressman Nathan Deal (R-GA), intended to offer amendments in the Energy and Commerce Committee to strip these provisions during committee mark-up. However, Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) and House Leadership agreed to yank the SCHIP bill from committee before amendments could be offered and send it straight to the floor. On its way, the bill made a brief stop in the Rules Committee where token language was added providing that no illegal aliens should receive funding under the bill. The Rules Committee also adopted a procedural rule allowing only two hours of debate on the House floor with no amendments permitted. The bill passed by a vote of 225 to 204.

Meanwhile, the Senate considered its own version of the bill, which was introduced as an amendment to the Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2007 (H.R. 976). While there was some debate over relaxing current eligibility and verification requirements, the Senate bill generated less controversy than its House counterpart. This was likely due to the bi-partisan nature of the bill, sponsored by Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and the fact that the immigration provisions of H.R. 976 were less onerous than those in the House.

Like the House version, H.R. 976 makes several changes to current eligibility and verification requirements. Section 201 of H.R. 976 provides additional funding for interpreter services if states choose to provide them. Section 203 creates a pilot program that allows states to expedite eligibility determinations for Medicaid and SCHIP benefits by adopting the eligibility determinations of other welfare agencies. This fast-track provision, however, cuts off federal funding when the eligibility error rate exceeds 3%. Finally, Section 301 makes the citizen documentation requirements for Medicaid applicable to SCHIP and gives states the option of continuing to use the SAVE system for determining eligibility of Medicaid and SCHIP applicants or using a program similar to the Basic Pilot Program.

These provisions were still in place when the Senate passed H.R. 976 on Thursday by a vote of 68 to 31. The House and Senate versions of the SCHIP reauthorization bill will now go to conference committee where legislators will hammer out differences. Observers will be watching closely to see which provisions regarding eligibility for benefits survive.


House Committee Takes Up Story of Ramos and Compean


In a House Subcommittee hearing last Tuesday, Representatives expressed their continued support for Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who were each sentenced to over ten years in prison after pursuing and shooting an illegal alien caught smuggling 743 pounds of marijuana into the country. The International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight Subcommittee of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs held the hearing to ascertain whether the Mexican Government influenced the prosecution of agents Ramos and Compean. However, because both the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice refused to send witnesses to the hearing, very little information was obtained regarding Mexico's involvement. The Members instead focused on the prosecutorial actions in the case and renewed their calls for a presidential commutation of the sentences.

Attending Members included Chairman Bill Delahunt (D-MA), Ranking Member Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), and Congressmen Ed Royce (R-CA), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Ted Poe (R-TX), and Walter Jones (R-NC). The witness panel included Ambassador Charles S. Shapiro, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Department of State's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs; T.J. Bonner, President of the National Border Patrol Council; and David Botsford, the appellate attorney for Mr. Ramos.

Mr. Bonner testified that the Border Patrol was beginning to be negatively impacted by the excessive sentencing for Agents Ramos and Compean. He noted that morale was "devastated" following the sentencing and that recruitment efforts are declining as attrition rates rise. Mr. Bonner testified that it is not unusual for agents to forget to file the correct reports, and for this reason, he explained, the maximum punishment is typically a five day suspension, not 11 years in prison.

Each of the Members expressed disapproval of the outcome of the case and, in particular, of the actions of Johnny Sutton, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, who was responsible for prosecuting the case. Chairman Delahunt referred to the absence of Mr. Sutton and other prosecuting attorneys as further proof of the "arrogance" of the Justice Department. Representative Poe called the "blissful absence" of the Prosecutor's Office "disturbing." Regarding Attorney Sutton's frequent television appearances and interviews, Congressman Poe mentioned that he had never heard of a "case where a prosecutor went on a nationwide PR campaign to justify his decision." Congressman Jones said the "whole [case] smells like a skunk," and Congressman Rohrabacher called the case a "prosecutorial debacle," saying that the "prosecutor looks more and more like a cross between [former President Richard] Nixon and [Durham Prosecutor Mike] Nifong."

In addition to their criticism of Attorney Sutton, the Members raised the recent commutation of Scooter Libby, asking for similar treatment for Agents Ramos and Compean. Chairman Delahunt said in the case of the agents "justice was not served" and their sentences were "harsh, disproportionate, [and] excessive." He added, "I hope the President responds swiftly and executes his presidential prerogative." Congressman Jones added, "If the President can find it in his heart to commute the sentence for Scooter Libby, why can't he find it in his heart to commute the sentence of two Border Patrol Agents?" Ranking Member Rohrabacher said, "We need to free Ramos and Compean for their families, for them, and for the United States of America."

Paige..

Good article.. Is there a link for this ..?

Thanks..
Rob

The Senate bill will benefit a pregnant Illegals child.

Here is what it says:
"A child born in the United States to a Alien Mother,who is eligible for emergency medical care,shall be deemed eligible for medical assistance during the first year of the childs life" I suppose the child within a year will have their citizenship papers and then can continue receiving benefits including welfare ! What a BoonDoggle,,,,,,,

The bill is long and involved so who knows how many other loopholes there are.Only the illegals and their multitude of lawyers will be able to ferret that information !!

Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who were each sentenced to over ten years in prison after pursuing and shooting an illegal alien caught smuggling 743 pounds of marijuana into the country.

Is La Raza helping these Border Patrol agents? They are Hispanic, and they are American. I thought La Raza was to support Hispanic Americans, not Hispanic Mexican admitted drug dealers? Or am I mistaken? I don't remember reading anything about them getting help from this group, and was just curious if La Raza believes their treatment (like putting Border Patrol/law enforcement in General Population so they could be beaten by inmates) or sentence is possibly racist?

"The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) – the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States – works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. "

"A child born in the United States to a Alien Mother,who is eligible for emergency medical care,shall be deemed eligible for medical assistance during the first year of the childs life"
I would have added to that - "Funded 'solely' by the country that the mother came from. "
Her bad judge-ment in life -or the production thereof should not be the responsibility of the citizens of the country upon which she chose to drop said child.