Free Republic

From the Gavel -- At a House Armed Services Committee Hearing on Iraq Legislation this morning, Kansas Congresswoman Nancy Boyda apparently heard as much good news as she could stand. So she did the old cut-and-run by walking out (as The Gavel explains, "She is responding in part to General Jack Keane, who testified before the Committee but left before Rep. Boyda’s remarks, and was reportedly one of the architects of the escalation policy"; there should probably be a "from" before the second mention of Keane's name): "I was certainly hoping that General Keane would be able to be here...

Procedural snares and ``killer'' amendments threaten to disrupt the fragile coalition in the Senate that's holding together the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. immigration policy since 1986. Supporters are scrambling to address the legislative obstacles before debate resumes next week. Opponents plan to try to derail the legislation by using procedural delays and offering poison-pill amendments that may split the coalition that sustains the measure. Passage of the legislation would give 12 million undocumented immigrants a chance at legal status while handing President George W. Bush a victory on his top domestic priority. ``This is a delicate balance. The wheels...

The Senate's Republican leader says he is unsure whether he will vote for the immigration bill President Bush strongly supports, underscoring the measure's precarious status. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has long called for an immigration overhaul, saying the current situation is deeply flawed. And as the Senate minority leader, McConnell is central to shepherding legislation the president wants. But in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, McConnell said he would not decide how to vote on the measure until a long series of amendments are disposed of next week. "The bill on the merits is a mixed bag,"...

When the immigration reform bill stalled in the Senate yesterday, President Bush may have been the most disappointed, having lost a chance at adding a signature domestic achievement to his legacy. Whether there will be a chance to salvage the effort is unclear — and so is the impact of all this on the presidential race. John McCain couldn't have been happy seeing the bill he co-sponsored hung up, maybe never to be resurrected. Throughout debates and testy campaign exchanges with his GOP rivals, McCain never wavered in his support for this particular reform. When party activists cried "amnesty," McCain...

The issue of illegal immigration has been a red-hot topic in my hometown community of Newport Beach/Costa Mesa, Orange County, Southern California. Sincere and heart-felt arguments have been made on both sides of the issue. However, many of those who write letters to the local paper in support of illegal immigration make it sound like Costa Mesa is the only place in the nation whose people favor the enforcement of our immigration laws. They suggest that those elected officials supporting these laws are just a small local band guilty of meanness, bigotry, and racism. Nothing could be further from the...

A landmark compromise on the thorny issue of immigration came under scrutiny in Congress Friday as some Republicans slammed the plan as a blanket amnesty and some Democrats argued it did not go far enough. "The agreement as it stands is hopeless. It is a framework that still has to be fleshed out," said Vanessa Cardenas of the Center for American Progress, after US lawmakers late Thursday struck a deal with the White House on sweeping immigration reform that could allow 12 million illegal immigrants to legalize their status. The pact, announced by a group of Democratic and Republican senators,...

Senators and the White House clinched a deal Thursday on bringing 12 million illegal immigrants out of the shadows and securing US borders, which could enhance President George W. Bush's legacy. The pact would provide a path to permanent residency and citizenship for illegal workers, establish a merit-based points system for future immigrants and also establish a temporary worker program. The bill, which emerged from exhaustive round-the-clock talks, and will be debated in the Senate next week, will provide 18,000 more border patrol agents, and scores of radar and camera towers on the US border with Mexico. It is aimed...