Illegals bill loses support in Senate [Washington Times]

The Washington Times ^ | July 28, 2007 | Stephen Dinan

[Oliver Optic]

Illegals bill loses support in Senate

The Senate immigration bill lost supporters yesterday and hangs on by a thread heading into this morning's showdown vote, after lawmakers voted down amendments making illegal aliens show roots to get legal status and cutting off their path to citizenship.

This morning's vote is on a parliamentary question about limiting debate, but it boils down to a vote to block the bill.

Just two days ago, 64 senators voted to revive the bill, with many saying they wanted to give the Senate a chance to improve the bill through amendments. But after a messy day in the chamber yesterday, with dozens of objections, arguments on the floor and five amendments defeated, at least a half-dozen senators said publicly or privately that their patience has run out.

"The way this has been handled, I'm not going to take a leap of faith," said Sen. Richard M. Burr, North Carolina Republican, who voted to advance the bill on Tuesday but said the way Democratic leaders ran the floor yesterday left no room to "take a bad bill and make it better."

Sen. Ben Nelson, Nebraska Democrat, said he has voted to keep the bill moving a half-dozen times already on "cloture" votes, but yesterday's debate showed him the bill is probably unsalvageable.

"I've given them six or seven cloture votes," he said. "I think this clay pigeon is becoming a dead duck."

[Excerpt ... see link above for complete article.]

[rbg81]

Easy there. I’m willing to give any senator that ultimately votes against it the benefit of the doubt.

[caphillbabe]

Here is a list of the key staff contacts of the “Amnesty 8” Senators (plus Domenici) that are most likely to be persuaded to vote no on Thursday and derail amnesty. Many offices are putting calls straight to voicemail and they can just trash faxes (and letters take weeks to get through due to security). Hit Hill staff where they are so codependent - their Blackberries! Send email directly to staff - not just the generic Senate office mailbox. Contact their Chief of Staff, Legislative Director, and Press Secretary. Make your voice heard!!

For the Democrats, I would strongly suggest taking a pro-union/anti-illegal alien stance (i.e. “they are taking our jobs”) rather than using the conservative national security angle.

Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE)
Chief of Staff
tim_becker@bennelson.senate.gov

Legislative Director
christiana_gallagher@bennelson.senate.gov

Press Secretary/Communications Director
david_dimartino@bennelson.senate.gov

Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR)
Chief of Staff
bob_russell@pryor.senate.gov

Legislative Director
andy_york@pryor.senate.gov

Press Secretary/Communications Director
michael_teague@pryor.senate.gov
lisa_ackerman@pryor.senate.gov

Senator Jim Webb (D-VA)
Chief of Staff
paul_reagan@webb.senate.gov

Legislative Director
mike_sozan@webb.senate.gov

Press Secretary/Communications Director
jessica_smith@webb.senate.gov

Senator Kit Bond (R-MO)
Chief of Staff
brian_klippenstein@bond.senate.gov

Legislative Director
kara_smith@bond.senate.gov

Communications Director
shana_marchio@bond.senate.gov

Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS)
Chief of Staff
glen_chambers@brownback.senate.gov

Domestic Policy Advisor
brian_robertson@brownback.senate.gov

Press Secretary/Communications Director
john_rankin@brownback.senate.gov
brian_hart@brownback.senate.gov

Senator Richard Burr (R-NC)
Chief of Staff
alicia_peterson-clark@burr.senate.gov
alicia_peterson-petersonclark@burr.senate.gov

Legislative Director
natasha_hickman@burr.senate.gov

Press Secretary/Communications Director
laura_caudell@burr.senate.gov
mark_williams@burr.senate.gov

Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN)
Chief of Staff
jennifer_lowe@coleman.senate.gov

Deputy Chief of Staff
lucia_lebens@coleman.senate.gov

Legislative Director
lorianne_moss@coleman.senate.gov

Communications Director
tom_steward@coleman.senate.gov
tom_stewart@coleman.senate.gov

Press Secretary
leroy_coleman@coleman.senate.gov

Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM)
Chief of Staff
steve_bell@domenici.senate.gov

Legislative Director
edward_hild@domenici.senate.gov

Press Secretary/Communications Director
chris_gallegos@domenici.senate.gov

Immigration LA
tara_shaw@domenici.senate.gov

Senator John Ensign (R-NV)
Chief of Staff
john_lopez@ensign.senate.gov

Legislative Director
pam_thiessen@ensign.senate.gov

Press Secretary/Communications Director
tory_mazzola@ensign.senate.gov
jack_finn@ensign.senate.gov
don_tatro@ensign.senate.gov

[CharlesWayneCT]

I hate to defend a democrat, but Ben Nelson has always been against the 60-vote rule, and he was with us on the judges on that one as well. He’s opposed the bill itself, but it is a difficult vote based on his long-standing principles for him to NOT vote for cloture.

He seems to have decided that cloture simply isn’t a fair response to how the bill is being handled, and we should applaud him if he votes against cloture.

[Moseley]

NEWS SAYS THAT RICHARD BURR (R-NC) IS WAVERING. He is a first-term GOP Senator in NC, so he ought to know he is vulnerable and not in a strong position. He voted FOR the bill on cloture. So, I think he might be influenced.

[Moseley]

From hearing Voinovich's pathetic call on Sean Hannity's radio show yesterday, DON'T ASSUME that these guys have any idea what's in the bill. Don't just call without giving arguments WHY the bil is bad. Don't assume that people in Congress know anything. They are being brainwashed by the White House and the lobbyists. So they are believing a lot of MYTHS about what is in the bill.

We should start calling the "Z" visa what is -- Talk about the "Z AMNESTY VISA." SECOND after the bill is signed, 12 million illegal immigrants can file a very simple application for the "Z AMNESTY VISA" and 24 hours later they will have the right to live and work in the USA. Worse, the government will have no right to stop or question these people. So we won't even have the ability to check them out to see if they are terrorists.

I also think you should call this the "Terrorist Welcome Mat Bill of 2007."

[khnyny]

LOL. You can only pray....

[khnyny]

Good.

These kids sound like the worst of the worst that ever gets posted to the Daily Kos or DU. The fact that they are supposedly college graduates, I find astounding. I also am bewildered that we (US taxpayers) pay their salaries, yet have to endure their rude, immature, brainless behaviour. We are their employers, but I guess that fact is lost on everyone on the Hill.

[khnyny]

Might as well keep ragging on them now that it’s part of my daily routine... :p

You've obviously learned the importance of maintaining good habits, lol.

[cinives]

We tried to get rid of Specter last time, but Bush and Santorum rode to his rescue.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

Hi Pep,,,Some of my prayers were answered today !!...;0)