Scroll down for the BILL DRAFTING information.
From: Roy Beck, President, NumbersUSA
Date: Monday 2APR07 10 p.m. EDT
Record faxing against Bush amnesty over the weekend ... Keep up the activism ... Tancredo running
THANKS, NUMBERSUSA FAXER/PHONERS!!!!
Our chief engineer, Peter Halliday, gave me this report about your responses to our requests last Thursday and Friday. We asked you to respond to the new White House amnesty agreement with around 25 Republican Senators. Peter wrote:
We set several records this weekend.
Faxes Ordered in a 4-Hour period
Previous Record: 36,922-----September 8, 2006, 1:30-5:30pm
New Record: 52,596-----March 30, 2006, 9:30am-1:30pm
Faxes Delivered in a Day (24 hours)
Previous Record: 53,514-----September 8, 2006
Current Record: 57,673-----March 31, 2007
Of note here is that the orders on March 30th for the entire day were 139,389. This was really close to a record. Also, of note the deliveries for March 30th were close to the record also: 53,019. Over both days, we had 110,692 faxes delivered and 209,077 faxes ordered.
Another 37,791 faxes were delivered Sunday, April 1.
-----Peter
You will note that Peter is talking about both "orders" and "deliveries." Although we have an amazing capacity for fax delivery, the fax machines on Capitol Hill have limits on how many faxes they can receive in a day. Thus, on days of incredible orders like last Friday and Saturday, faxes get backed up, and it can take a day or two to catch up. But our delivery system is working 24 hours a day to make sure that your message gets to its intended recipient.
Our system does not count a fax as delivered until it is absolutely sure that the connection with a fax machine has been made and the information has been completely transmitted.
Your activity since Friday morning really is a remarkable amount of activism for something that barely was reported in the mainstream news media.
You all are so wonderful to take advantage of the inside information that NumbersUSA is able to provide you.
I was reminded of how much this information means to many of you when I spoke Friday night at the Madison Banquet of the We The People Foundation. Afterwards, several people came up to me and said they are long-time faxers with NumbersUSA and that what they appreciate the most is the feeling that they have an inside pipeline into what is going on concerning immigration in Washington that the mainstream media can't hide from them.
TOM TANCREDO ANNOUNCES HE IS RUNNING -- NO LONGER JUST EXPLORATORY
After two months of an exploratory committee, Rep. Tancredo (R-CO) announced today that the financial and activist response has been great enough that he will officially seek the Republican Party nomination for President.
That means that all Republican candidate forums will include a politician who will never cut corners in describing the immigration policy that is in the nation's best interest.
You can read his announcement statement and other news at:
www.TeamTancredo.com
PLEASE KEEP PHONING AGAINST THE NEW WHITE HOUSE AMNESTY
There is no question in my mind that the leaks of the new White House amnesty last Thursday were meant as a trial baloon to see if our side would be so overjoyed at all the good parts of the plan that we wouldn't loudly protest the two ugly bottom lines of the plan:
THE WHITE HOUSE/GOP SENATOR PLAN WOULD:
allow nearly all illegal aliens to live and work the rest of their lives in the U.S., with as many as desiring it having the opportunity to become voting U.S. citizens
take annual LEGAL immigration numbers (which at 1 million are 400% of historic averages) and add at least 40% every year
It appears to us that the open borders advocacy groups were given copies of the plan first so that the few news stories that came out would decry the plan as being far too harsh on future illegal aliens and far too expensive with fines as the cost of the amnesty for current illegal aliens.
It appears to me that somebody's tactic was to trot out the new Bush plan filled with pretty decent enforcement measures as a way for Republicans Senators to say to their constituents that they really tried to be tough. But then with such an outcry from all the Irish, Mexican, Haitian, Hispanic, Polish, Catholic, Southern Baptist, ACLU leaders, the White House would have to "compromise" between its enforcement-laden amnesty and Sen. Ted Kennedy's amnesty that has almost no enforcement.
See what I mean: The two sides are being defined between two kinds of amnesties rather than between amnesty and ATTRITION THROUGH ENFORCEMENT (no amnesty).
I truly think your assault of faxes and phone calls since Thursday night are starting to make some Senators re-think this plan.
But you have to keep it up.
Capitol Switchboard
202-224-3121
If you have not yet phoned your two Senators, please do so this week. Remember the most important message they need to hear is this:
The No. 1 problem with our whole immigration system is that far too many foreign workers and their dependents are moving here each year. We oppose anything that would increase immigration numbers.
Anything that allows illegal aliens to remain living and working in the U.S. is an amnesty. Regardless of what any politician may call it, though, it is a giant reward for illegal activity that will entice millions more to break our laws.
Here is a report from ROLL CALL newspaper that suggests the Republican Senate leaders may be most interested in working out their amnesty compromise with Kennedy. If you have Senators named in this story, please call their offices and let them know what you are thinking.
Quote:
Immigration Bill Drafting to Begin
April 2, 2007
By Erin P. Billings,
Roll Call Staff
On the heels of what some participants called their most productive bipartisan meeting to date, a group of GOP and Democratic Senators this week will begin drafting a compromise immigration bill they hope will serve as the leading vehicle for comprehensive reform this Congress.
And while the move may be the clearest sign yet that Senators intend to meet Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) goal of debating immigration reform the last two weeks of May, some lawmakers worry that major hurdles still stand in the way.
Chief among those concerns is how negotiators can wade through a series of competing proposals, including a new draft plan by the White House, that offer different ways of dealing with the nation’s 12 million illegal immigrants and a variety of takes on how — or whether — to create a temporary guest-worker program.
Senate Judiciary ranking member Arlen Specter (Pa.), one of the leading Republicans in the discussions with Democrats, said Friday that a bipartisan group of Senators is ready to reconcile ideas and “put it on paper” this week. Specter insisted that no particular proposal will be given more weight than the others, but he acknowledged that Senators “will have to be very aggressive” in the coming weeks in what’s going to be a “laborious and time consuming” effort.
“We are well on the road to producing a bill to take up on Sen. Reid’s timetable,” he said.
Senators decided to start crafting legislation following a meeting Thursday that involved White House officials as well as six Republican and four Democratic Senators. The session was the second bipartisan meeting involving the Bush administration in as many days, and such gatherings are expected to become a regular occurrence beginning next week when the Senate returns from recess.
“We’ve made a lot of progress,” said Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), who has been active in the negotiations. “What we have to do now is take our ideas and draft a bill. That will happen during the break.”
“We have to get started,” added a senior Democratic aide familiar with the immigration talks. “Time is not on the side of those who want to pass comprehensive immigration reform. We have to move as quickly as possible before the pressures of the presidential campaign significantly affect what’s going on on the Hill.”
Martinez acknowledged that some differences among Senators still exist, but he believes Democrats and Republicans are ready to start crafting a “consensus” bill that focuses on what they can agree on. As for any unresolved, controversial pieces, Martinez said some ultimately may have to be decided through amendment votes on the Senate floor.
“I really believe we have a way forward,” Martinez said.
Martinez, Specter, Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) are among the 10 influential Senators who are sitting at the heart of the immigration talks and will be key to crafting any legislation.
Also involved are GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Jon Kyl (Ariz.), John Cornyn (Texas) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (Texas), as well as Democratic Sens. Ken Salazar (Colo.) and Bob Menendez (N.J.). Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez also have been engaged, and they helped lead Thursday’s bipartisan meeting.
The six Senate Republicans — whose views on immigration cross the GOP spectrum — have been meeting separately with Chertoff and Gutierrez since January. Those talks served as the impetus for the White House’s latest proposal, which Democrats and interest groups quickly have derided as a step backward from where they were even a year ago.
“Some of these proposals being floated by the White House are very, very problematic,” said Jim Manley, spokesman for Reid. “Sen. Reid is anxious to get a comprehensive bill through the Senate as quickly as possible. However, the only way to get anything done is if this administration stops paying lip service to the right wing and starts negotiating in good faith with Democrats on the Hill.”
The administration’s proposal, which was widely distributed last week, proposes a series of reforms ranging from stiffer border security to temporary visas for illegal immigrants.
Democrats, however, already are balking at several provisions, including requirements that immigrants must return home and pay a $10,000 fine to ultimately achieve citizenship, and that there be no special allowances for immigrant families, unlike last year’s Senate-passed bill.
“The question is how firm they are,” one knowledgeable Democratic Senate staffer said of the White House proposals. “Are the Republicans going to hold on to them? If it’s just a temperature read, then there’s some optimism that we are actually going somewhere.”
Salazar said that even with work under way to finally draft a Senate bill, he would caution against claiming victory just yet. Salazar, like many Democrats, would like the Senate to instead consider an immigration package recently introduced in the House by Reps. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) that seeks to bolster border security and provide a path for citizenship for many of the country’s immigrants.
Asked whether Senators would come together successfully on drafting a separate bill, Salazar said: “The jury is still out.”
The House bill largely mirrors a measure offered last year by Kennedy and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), which cleared the Senate by a comfortable margin. Democratic sources suggested they could have a similar bill ready to go again this year.
Senators say they are still hoping to consider immigration legislation in advance of the House, where lawmakers have taken far more strident positions in recent years. The two chambers passed competing bills in the previous Congress but were unable to reconcile their vastly different versions.
Even with the challenges ahead, Graham said late last week that Thursday’s session with the 10 Senators was “one of the most productive bipartisan meetings we’ve had,” and he said he’s as optimistic as he’s ever been about passage of immigration reform. Graham predicted that “within 30 days we can really move.”
“We are trying to get there from here in a way that will make our country proud,” he said. “This is doable.”
PHONERS WHO DON'T GIVE UP
If you've never made a phone call (that may cost you 50 cents) to your Senator, it really is quite easy. Don't be nervous. Remember that your Senator works for you (and lots of other "yous").
Consider this citizen:
Dear Numbersusa,
I am in bed with Pneumonia feeling half dead but when I came into my computer room and found out that my Representative has not as of yet signed the letter going to Pelosi I called her Washington office and let FRANK the immigration guy have it. He was trying to push me off the phone with the same old " oh we haven't heard of the letter yet and crap like that and I again said that it is maybe the most important immigration letter to date and you don't know about it? I find that hard to believe Frank! I said now don't brush me off for I am a great constituent of hers and he said yes I know you write her a lot. So I said that's because I expect a lot out of her and I only write when it is necessary. So he said he would try to track the letter down so she can look at it and that he hoped I feel better and I said I hope you are not just blowing me off because I will know in a matter of minutes if she has signed the letter or not. So I hope it helps. So back to bed to get over this very bad case of a cold with pneumonia.
----------Ben Kellerman
ALL OF YOU, PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH.
BUT PLEASE ALSO DO WHAT YOU CAN TO PROTECT THE HEALTH OF OUR NATION.
THE WHITE HOUSE AND TOP DEMOCRATIC AND REPUBLICAN LEADERS OF THE SENATE ARE WORKING OVERTIME TO MAKE A DECISION THAT WILL RADICALLY CHANGE THE NATURE OF OUR NATION OVER THE NEXT FEW DECADES.
-- ROY
