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Immigration: It's Alive

The immigration reform bill came back to life officially at 12:16 p.m. today.
Senators voted 64-35 to proceed with considering the bill.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., trumpeted success.
"I’ve been in Congress for more than 40 years and immigration reforms are always controversial," Kennedy said in a media release. "But Congress is expected to muster the political will to get it done. And today, I’m proud to say that we did. Today’s vote is a major step forward for Congress, and for the country. "

Kennedy is one of the bill's main architects.
One of the bill's main opponents, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, seemed to be prepping for a fight this afternoon.
Both he and his senior counterpart, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, voted against moving forward with the bill.
"We're going to offer some amendments and see what happens," Cornyn said.
What amendments?
"Well, there's 24 on the list that the grand bargainers have apparently agreed upon," he said. "It's 361 pages long, and no one has read it yet. So I think that's where we ought to start. We need to read it to understand what's in it."
He hopes amendments will improve the bill.
As is, the "flawed" bill has "serious loopholes," that "strike at the heart of America’s national security," he said in a media statement.
Hutchison will offer an amendment right off the bat that would be an improvement, Cornyn said.
Her “return home” amendment is co-sponsored by Tennessee Republicans Sen. Bob Corker and Sen. Lamar Alexander, she said in a media release. It would require adult illegal immigrants to go back to their country within two years of receiving a secure identification, also known as a temporary “Z” visa.
Will Hutchison's amendment be enough to win his vote?
"There's other concerns I have besides that," he said.
A vote on cutting off debate to go ahead and vote on the bill itself is expected Thursday.

Posted by Trish Choate at 04:39 PM | Permalink