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| Sources: Senate GOP on Verge of Amnesty Deal |
| 2007-05-15 |
| Conservatives growing uneasy about Kennedy-led negotiations Sources on Capitol Hill tell me the Senate may be very close to a deal on comprehensive immigration reform. But as the immigration deal comes together, Senate conservatives are growing uneasy about the state of the negotiations, fearing that Republican leadership will sell out to the Bush Administration and liberal Democrats to give amnesty to illegal aliens. The issue boils down to whether Senate Republicans leaders, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Conference Chairman Jon Kyl (Ariz.), will give Democrats a free pass to bring up the bill without ever giving Republicans a chance to review it. Sen. Teddy Kennedy (D.-Mass.) is leading negotiations for the Democrats, and has so far negotiated a favorable deal for Democrats, according to sources close to the negotiations. The Senate on Wednesday will be voting on a motion to proceed to last year’s Senate-passed immigration bill. A motion to proceed is a procedural step to start debating the legislation. It would allow leadership to present a bill to the Senate with no time for senators to actually read the legislation. “There is concern among conservatives on the Hill that leadership will cave in on the motion to proceed on a bill that they’ve never seen,” one senior Senate aide told me. “Conservatives don’t want to do this because they don’t trust that the negotiators will produce a bill that will be satisfactory to conservatives.” Last month, 15 conservative Republicans sent a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) asking for at least a week before debate to review the legislation. Last year’s bill was more than 600 pages long and very complicated. “It is unconscionable that with an issue of this magnitude and complexity that the Senate would proceed to legislation without any text available to review by senators,” another senior Senate source said. Just last week, former Attorney General Ed Meese and Senators Jim DeMint (R.-S.C.) and Jeff Sessions (R.-Ala.) unveiled the essential principles for immigration reform. One of those principles is respect for the rule of law, which conservatives fear will be violated by any potential agreement that includes amnesty. “It’s unlikely that any deal will be cut that will satisfy conservatives,” said Brian Darling, a congressional analyst at the Heritage Foundation. “Any legislation containing ‘Z’ visas is a non-starter because a ‘Z’ visa is an amnesty visa.” |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #5 Woozle, he was also largely responsible for the defunding of our support to S. Vietnam after that war 'offically' ended. Abandoning our commitments to the south and practically handing 1-2 million over to be slaughtered in Cambodia and the re-education centers. Just like he's chomping at the bit to do to the Iraqis. In fact his speeches are practically the same. Responsibility? Thats for you commoners - us Kennedys can get away with murder. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2007-05-15 23:32 |
| #4 MARK STEYN > Many US Dems + other Pols like to proclaim their desire to protect America and Americans from Terror while doing everything possible for knowingly illegal aliens to still be able to legally collect massive public entitlements wid fear of arrest or having to declare themselves. ANSWER > BIGGER GUBMINT, MORE REGULATION + BUREAUCRACIES, more More MORE M-O-R-E MMMMMMOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEE, D *** YOU, GOVT/PUBLIC ENTITLEMENTS EVEN FOR ILLEGALS WHOM DON'T EVER WANT TO = ARE NOT TRYING TO BECOME "LEGAL". |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-05-15 22:42 |
| #3 What is the problem for this old fool Kennedy ? He was largely responsible for the 1986 amnesty and that has worked out so well. |
| Posted by: Woozle Elmeter2970 2007-05-15 20:13 |
| #2 Any passage of an amnesty bill would trigger such a deluge of illegal immigration as to make The Great Flood look like a spring shower. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-05-15 19:33 |
| #1 call/write your congresscritter, especially your (R) Senators! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-05-15 19:24 |