[Oshkalaboomboom]

Quite a change of tune from the condescending windbag who thought the people were too stupid to understand the intracies of the bill. I won't forget that neither of my Senators thought I was as important as a Pilgrim's Pride lobbyist.

[sgtbono2002]

Its the old CYA speech.

[indianrightwinger]

The fact that this press releases needed to be issued causes me smell a RAT on this issue.

[2ndDivisionVet]

In their world, you’re not! We need to start a drive to defeat EVERY senator that supported this illegal amnesty bill! There is 300+ million of us and 100 of them, so I think we have the numbers on our side!

[WWTD]

I agree. Chambliss sure has changed his tune. His heart and wallet are with the open borders crowd - that was obvious from his statements last month. At the last minute, realizing that the bill was not going to pass, plus the voters in GA are likely to turn him out, he changed his vote.

I hope the good people of Georgia will remember how this man has insulted them and run a good primary opponent against him next year.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Chambliss poked his head up the first time round, got booed loudly by the Georgia State GOP, got the message real fast, and changed his tune.

[southernerwithanattitude]

Amen brother! They have heard from me and will continue to hear from me. For them to even listen to this mess in the beginning is enough for me to lose faith in them.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

“The debate must continue,...”

There is what he means, I’m afraid.

[sageb1]

“Georgians made their voices heard loud and clear and we have listened.”

Thank you to the good citizens of Georgia who kept after their senators. Sometimes it works like it’s supposed to.

[Ole Okie]

Saxby was stunned by the boos he received at the GOP convention earlier in the month. Then he consoled himself by deciding that the cheers were becoming louder than the boos when he spoke.

But in the end, neither Chambliss nor Isakson could ignore the fact that their constituents were very, very unhappy. And it finally seemed to penetrate that no matter what ‘triggers’ Johnny wrote into the bill, there was no assurance whatsoever that the border would ever be reinforced or much fence built.

[freespirited]

Like everyone, politicians say stupid things. As long as they dont vote stupid, that’s good enough for me.

[Man50D]

Now is not the time to let up. We need to pressure our politicians to enforce the existing immigration laws including deporting illegal aliens, building the fence and prosecuting businesses who do business with illegal aliens. The link below is a ping list to pay attention for other questionable legislation being considered in Congress.

Keeping track Of The Congress Critters

[Shermy]

I think he and Isakson were suckered into this. Bush’s first plan was to create a sense of “bi-partisanship” which included “conservatives” this time around. I think the two were “wined and dined” so to speak, and privileged with hanging out with big wigs, etc. They have no particular experience with immigration to my knowledge.

A ways back, right after the Bush announcment a deal was made, but nevertheless there were reports the bill was still being worked upon, Chambliss gave a blase comment telling us not to worry...I didn’t sense a Kennedy-like derision, but someone who was careless.

I think they learned their lesson about “quickie bills” at least.

[chesley]

I can only say that I am very glad that my senators include Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby, both of whom had the right idea about this bill.

But can we ever say enough good about Jeff Sessions. He is a true hero, and he will have my vote for whatever office he chooses to run for from now on.

[davidlachnicht]

I just got a response from him.

Here's a noteworthy clip from the email:

Due to the tremendous response from Georgians, I am now convinced that many people do not believe our government will enforce the border security provisions in the legislation. Therefore, Senator Isakson and I communicated to President Bush that Congress must pass, and he should sign, a supplemental appropriations bill to fully fund the necessary expenditures to secure our borders.

I will continue to approach this issue by tackling border security first and separately from any other immigration measure and I will oppose comprehensive reform unless and until that is done. That is why I voted against cloture twice on the immigration bill.

Yeah!

[doodad]

Here is what I sent him in response to an email back on the 13th and it still stands Saxby.

Dear Senator Chambliss,

Thank you for sending this message regarding the message to the President, which I have indeed read. My problem is with the following passage:

To that end, we believe that you and your administration could alleviate many of the fears of our constituents by calling for an emergency supplemental bill to fully fund the border and interior security initiatives contained in legislation currently pending in the Senate

You see, we don’t want this bill funded, comtemplated or debated. We want the current laws enforced, the promised 10,000 new Border Patrol Agents (how many have we fielded?), and the already funded wall built. This is not hard to understand. The citizens of Georgia and the United States have had it with the invasion and lack of security on the border in post 9/11 world.

Please drop all consideration of immigration reform. We do not need more laws when the current ones are being broken. All the needs reforming is the lack of enforcement of laws already on the books.

Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,

Doodad

[no dems]

Quite a change of tune from the condescending windbag who thought the people were too stupid to understand the intracies of the bill.

Gee, what changed his mind; I wonder. Surely it wasn't the thousands of phone calls, faxes and e-mails from those stupid folks back home.

[doodad]

The debate must continue, because the status quo is not working

Well, if you don't try it never will. Guess those contributions from the ag business is just too much to let go.

[paul51]

because the status quo is not working

Than why isn't the congress and our boneheaded president doing something about that? Secure the borders and enforce the law.

[kidd]

I dunno.

The speech seem genuine.

He states: “The resounding opinion we heard was: we do not trust the federal government to enforce the laws in this new legislation because it has never enforced our immigration laws in the past; we need to secure the border the first and then deal with the collateral issues.”

I think this is a case of someone “getting it.” If we’re going to be persuasive, and a Senator responds positively, I think we need to seriously examine if he’s had a genuine change of heart. If we hold Senators that we wish to persuade to their original position, our abilities of persuasion will diminish.

I’m inclined to give him a break.

[pepperdog]

“we need to secure the border the first and then deal with the collateral issues”

I notice he says he’ll continue to “fight” for border security, but hesitates to firmly and clearly state he’ll do that fighting to CLOSE THE BORDER FIRST! CYA and weasel wording. Or what we used to call watermelon talk, the kind where you can’t pin him down. A pox on him and his horse.