angela256z
06-29-2007, 08:34 PM
Senate immigration bill fails; issue "is going to have to wait"
By Seattle Times news services
Only 13 percent of those in a CBS News Survey taken this week said they supported passage of the Senate's immigration bill. Almost three times that number, 35 percent, opposed it, while 51 percent said they did not know enough about the legislation to say whether they supported it.
The Senate's three Democratic presidential hopefuls — Hillary Rodham Clinton, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden and Barack Obama — voted to advance the bill. Among Republicans, John McCain voted to keep the measure alive and Sam Brownback did likewise before changing his vote after defeat was obvious.
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The political battles that helped bring down sweeping immigration legislation in the Senate are sure to rage on, although the bill is all but dead until after the 2008 elections.
"Immigration is going to have to wait until we get a new president and a new Congress," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said after a 46-53 procedural vote Thursday derailed efforts to move the bill toward final passage.
The House also is almost certain to dodge the issue, with leaders of both parties hoping to spare members the fractious debate that dragged on almost three weeks in the Senate.
Supporters of the Senate bill had indicated they were close to the 60 votes needed to end debate, but the forces of the political right and left overwhelmed an effort to address one of the most difficult issues facing the country.
"Legal immigration is one of the top concerns of the American people and Congress' failure to act on it is a disappointment," said President Bush, who has pushed a comprehensive reworking of immigration laws since he came to Washington. "A lot of us worked hard to see if we couldn't find a common ground — it didn't work."
The bill would have coupled tough border-enforcement measures and a crackdown on employers with a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, a new guest-worker system for foreigners seeking entry and dramatic changes to the system of legal migration. A dozen senators, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez spent nearly six months hammering out a bill.
Chertoff said the administration would continue trying to enforce existing laws, building fences and beefing up border patrols. But, he said, without the $4.4 billion for Homeland Security in the bill and a much more stringent system to verify the legality of job applicants, the flood of illegal immigrants is not likely to recede — an estimated 500,000 enter the U.S. every year. Employers still will have no real way to unmask illegal job applicants.
Chertoff angrily dismissed critics, especially conservatives who said they could not support the bill until the administration shows it can enforce existing laws, accusing them of saying, "We need better weapons, but we'll give you the weapons after you win the war."
"The American people don't have faith in their government's ability to win a war, enforce border security or even process passport requests," said Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., one of the bill's sponsors.
Rarely is a legislative fight as emotional as the battle over immigration. A flood of angry phone calls from opponents of the bill shut down the Capitol switchboard ahead of the vote, overwhelming the message from a small group of immigrant-rights demonstrators urging passage outside. Latino lawmakers from the House flooded onto the Senate floor to encourage senators to keep the legislation alive and let the House have a turn.
In a mark of lawmakers' ambivalence, however, the outcome was substantially different from a test vote Tuesday, when a 64-35 vote revived the bill. Then, 24 Republicans joined 39 Democrats and Independent Joe Lieberman to move ahead with the bill. On Thursday, 12 Republicans and six Democrats switched their votes. Washington state Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell voted for the bill on both occasions.
Opponents of the bill painted the fight as the people of the United States battling a government that has grown insensitive to an illegal-immigrant invasion that threatens the fabric of the nation. Proponents said the Senate had succumbed to the angry voices of hate, venom and racism.
By Seattle Times news services
Only 13 percent of those in a CBS News Survey taken this week said they supported passage of the Senate's immigration bill. Almost three times that number, 35 percent, opposed it, while 51 percent said they did not know enough about the legislation to say whether they supported it.
The Senate's three Democratic presidential hopefuls — Hillary Rodham Clinton, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden and Barack Obama — voted to advance the bill. Among Republicans, John McCain voted to keep the measure alive and Sam Brownback did likewise before changing his vote after defeat was obvious.
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The political battles that helped bring down sweeping immigration legislation in the Senate are sure to rage on, although the bill is all but dead until after the 2008 elections.
"Immigration is going to have to wait until we get a new president and a new Congress," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said after a 46-53 procedural vote Thursday derailed efforts to move the bill toward final passage.
The House also is almost certain to dodge the issue, with leaders of both parties hoping to spare members the fractious debate that dragged on almost three weeks in the Senate.
Supporters of the Senate bill had indicated they were close to the 60 votes needed to end debate, but the forces of the political right and left overwhelmed an effort to address one of the most difficult issues facing the country.
"Legal immigration is one of the top concerns of the American people and Congress' failure to act on it is a disappointment," said President Bush, who has pushed a comprehensive reworking of immigration laws since he came to Washington. "A lot of us worked hard to see if we couldn't find a common ground — it didn't work."
The bill would have coupled tough border-enforcement measures and a crackdown on employers with a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, a new guest-worker system for foreigners seeking entry and dramatic changes to the system of legal migration. A dozen senators, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez spent nearly six months hammering out a bill.
Chertoff said the administration would continue trying to enforce existing laws, building fences and beefing up border patrols. But, he said, without the $4.4 billion for Homeland Security in the bill and a much more stringent system to verify the legality of job applicants, the flood of illegal immigrants is not likely to recede — an estimated 500,000 enter the U.S. every year. Employers still will have no real way to unmask illegal job applicants.
Chertoff angrily dismissed critics, especially conservatives who said they could not support the bill until the administration shows it can enforce existing laws, accusing them of saying, "We need better weapons, but we'll give you the weapons after you win the war."
"The American people don't have faith in their government's ability to win a war, enforce border security or even process passport requests," said Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., one of the bill's sponsors.
Rarely is a legislative fight as emotional as the battle over immigration. A flood of angry phone calls from opponents of the bill shut down the Capitol switchboard ahead of the vote, overwhelming the message from a small group of immigrant-rights demonstrators urging passage outside. Latino lawmakers from the House flooded onto the Senate floor to encourage senators to keep the legislation alive and let the House have a turn.
In a mark of lawmakers' ambivalence, however, the outcome was substantially different from a test vote Tuesday, when a 64-35 vote revived the bill. Then, 24 Republicans joined 39 Democrats and Independent Joe Lieberman to move ahead with the bill. On Thursday, 12 Republicans and six Democrats switched their votes. Washington state Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell voted for the bill on both occasions.
Opponents of the bill painted the fight as the people of the United States battling a government that has grown insensitive to an illegal-immigrant invasion that threatens the fabric of the nation. Proponents said the Senate had succumbed to the angry voices of hate, venom and racism.