Senate Battle Resumes: Updates and Request for Calls

SENATE RESUMES DEBATE ON S. 1348


Remember, you can always check our Vote Day page.

The Senate is expected to take up amendments today when it resumes debate on S. 1348. Members will consider an amendment sponsored by Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) that would eliminate provisions authorizing the Department of Labor to waive requirements that employers in "labor shortage areas" offer jobs to U.S. workers before seeking to import foreign workers. Another sponsored by Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) would ensure that green card applicants who entered the country illegally are not given preference under a merit-based processing system over those who have waited outside the country for their immigration status to be approved.

The bill's proponents hope to finish work on it by June 7 or 8, but for a vote on final passage to occur, however, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) must first call for a vote on a motion to proceed (cloture), which would cut off debate and prevent a filibuster. In order for cloture to be invoked, 60 senators must vote "yes" on it.

Several amendments will be considered this week that could pull apart the coalition supporting the so-called "Grand Bargain." Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) will sponsor an amendment adding 833,000 green cards for family reunification. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), the lead Republican negotiator on the "compromise" bill, was quoted in the June 4 edition of The Washington Post as saying that he will withdraw his support for the bill if that amendment passes or if another Menendez amendment is adopted that would more than double the number of green cards available under the bill for the parents of U.S. citizens. Democrats supporting the "compromise" are adamantly opposed to amendments that would expand the list of crimes making illegal aliens ineligible for legalization {Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.)} and that would prohibit illegal aliens who are legalized under the law from obtaining the earned-income tax credit {Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.)}. in this email:
1. Senate Resumes Debate on S. 1348;
2. Phone your GOP Senators;
3. Keep Calling Your seantors
4. Phone into National Conference Call
5. Is the Grand Compromise Falling Apart?
6. Congressional Budget Office Deals a Blow to S. 1348
7. NumbersUSA taking your message to the media
8. Thank You
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PHONE YOUR GOP SENATORS


Our Capitol Hill team met this morning with other leaders of the immigration-reduction movement and key Congressional staffers. They believe one of the keys to tearing apart the amnesty coalition is to encourage GOP Senators to preserve their rights to offer their amendments to the bill.

Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-Nev.) indicated yesterday he still hopes to have a vote on final passage of S. 1348 this week, but Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has said he would only agree to such a timetable if a sufficient number of amendments receive floor votes.

If you have a Republican Senator, please phone them today and urge them to ask Sens. McConnell and Lott to not get railroaded in a speedy, unusual process to pass the bill. Ask them to insist on their rights to offer amendments to the bill.

You can find the phone numbers for your Senators here: http://www.numbersusa.com/congressinfo/.


KEEP CALLING YOUR SENATORS


You may have seen Sen. Jon Kyl's (R-Ariz.) quote in the Washington Post on Monday suggesting that calls opposing S. 1348 are trailing off. The Washington Post said, "Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), who led negotiations on the bill for his party, said the flood of angry calls and protests that greeted the deal two weeks ago has since receded every day."

You can read the full article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... id=topnews.

While we don't believe this to be true and other Senators are saying they were inundated with calls during recess (see Washington Times article below), Kyl's remarks should serve as a reminder that Your Senators Need To Keep Hearing From You.

You can find the phone numbers for your Senators here: http://www.numbersusa.com/congressinfo/.

Please continue to phone your Senators (Democrats and Republicans) this week and urge them to Vote NO on S. 1348.


PHONE INTO OUR NATIONAL CONFERENCE CALL FOR VIRTUAL RALLY ON WEDNESDAY


You are invited to phone in to our National Conference Call tomorrow to hear Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), NumbersUSA Executive Director, Roy Beck, and NumbersUSA's Director of Government Relations, Rosemary Jenks, bring you the latest news on the battle in the Senate and send a message to the Senate that the full power of our 376,000 Action Network is rallying to oppose the Senate Immigration Disaster, S. 1348.

Wednesday, June 6th



IS THE GRAND COMPROMISE FALLING APART?


Yesterday Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), one of the key architects of the Senate Immigration Disaster, indicated that if any of the so-called "killer amendments" (creating a separate employer-sponsored system of up to 300,000 new green cards; giving temporary workers a path to citizenship; and changing the dates or definitions to allow broader family migration) pass, he will oppose the bill. Kyl said that if any of those amendments pass, "I certainly would not support the legislation, I would do everything I can to get it defeated."

That quote has left many questioning whether or not Sen. Kyl is starting to distance himself from the bill because he is losing confidence in the Senate's ability to pass it.


CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE DEALS A BLOW TO S. 1348


The Congressional Budget Office(CBO) released its official cost estimate of S. 1348 yesterday. Of the new guestworkers allowed in under S. 1348 the CBO said, "We anticipate that many of those would remain in the United States illegally after their visas expire." The CBO also estimated that S. 1348's new guest-worker program could lead to at least 500,000 more illegal aliens within a decade. In addition, the CBO said the security "triggers" that must be met before the guest-worker program can begin won't be met until 2010 even though President Bush has claimed they can be in place before he leaves office in January 2009.

You can read the Washington Times article on the subject here http://www.washtimes.com/national/20070 ... -6916r.htm.


NUMBERSUSA TAKING YOUR MESSAGE TO THE MEDIA


In addition to fighting the Senate battle in the halls of Congress, our Capitol Hill team has been busy fielding calls from reporters and conducting interviews to expose the real implications of S. 1348. Our Caroline Espinosa has been on a few dozen talk radio programs and quoted in numerous newspaper articles this week alone (see below).


Illegals-bill gripes flood Republican offices
By Eric Pfeiffer and Valerie Richardson
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
June 5, 2007

Republican lawmakers say they were inundated by opposition to the current immigration proposal during their congressional recess while visiting with constituents and attending hometown events.

"This is the most phone calls I've gotten since the Dubai ports deal," said Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican, referring to the national security uproar that derailed a United Arab Emirates-based company's 2006 effort to take over port operations in six major U.S. cities, including New York.

"I attended two Memorial Day parades last Monday," he said. "I assume all the veterans coming up to talk to me would be about Iraq. But they wanted to talk about immigration. These are very middle-of-the-road, mainstream people that are coming up to me, not the 'Pat Buchanan types.' I can just tell, most of these people don't belong to organizations and have never contacted a congressman before."

Mr. King's experience was echoed by several other Republican lawmakers who spoke with The Washington Times during last week's congressional recess.

A Rasmussen Report poll released last week found only 16 percent of respondents thought illegal entries would decline if the bill passed, while 74 percent disagreed. Of the latter, 41 percent said the legislation would cause illegal entries to increase.

"Not one person who I spoke with was for the Senate amnesty bill," said Rep. Ed Royce, California Republican. "They are worried about their childrens' jobs, who is going to pay for this and security. Those are the concerns."

Rep. Steve King's office said he participated in a "tele-town hall" with constituents and that a "significant majority" of participants were expressing opposition to the current Senate immigration bill.

"There's been an overwhelming response back in the district," the Iowa Republican said.

Among the most active campaigns against the measure is that of NumbersUSA, which saw its membership jump by 10,000 when the compromise was announced.

"There's a level of anger here that you don't see with most issues," said spokeswoman Caroline Espinosa.

Her organization's members sent 751,000 faxes in May, she said. The top five recipients are Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas Republican; Sen. Barbara Boxer, California Democrat; Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican; Sen. Bill Nelson, Florida Democrat; and Sen. Mel Martinez, Florida Republican.

Meanwhile, the fractious debate in Congress may come as a relief to Republican Sen. Jon Kyl after a week spent defending the proposed immigration compromise back home in Arizona.

His Phoenix and Tucson offices were picketed by anti-amnesty demonstrators demanding his resignation and received thousands of phone calls against the compromise legislation. The Phoenix-based Mothers Against Illegal Immigrants announced a recall effort against Mr. Kyl and fellow Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain. Even the chairman of the state Republican Party blasted the compromise.

Still, Mr. Kyl, the compromise bill's leading Republican proponent, didn't flinch, plugging away in the proposal's defense in meetings with opposition groups, interviews with editorial boards and heated exchanges with radio talk-show hosts.

"At the fringe, there are some folks who should remember what their mother told them on how to act," Mr. Kyl told the editorial board of the Arizona Republic.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, was booed last week at the state party convention for his role in writing the proposal, while fellow South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint received cheers for his opposition. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the Georgia Republican who helped negotiate the compromise, was also met with boos last week when he addressed delegates to the state party convention.


THANK YOU


If you are feeling a little battle-weary right now please take heart. You are not alone and all of your efforts are having a tremendous effect. We don't know what will happen this week, but we are starting to see cracks in the amnesty coalition that initially felt confident it could pass this bill before Memorial Day.

Rest assured that your NumbersUSA team is on the case day and night this week and we will be coming to you with updates throughout the week. Together we can beat the Senate Immigration Disaster.

ANNE
www.numbersusa.com