Posted on 07/15/2005 3:32:25 PM PDT by Conservative Firster
WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Thursday that immigration reform is probably off the table for this year, a prediction that threw cold water on the methodical efforts of Sen. John Cornyn to pass a bill this fall.
"The overall guest worker-immigration legislation will come in this Congress (which ends in late 2006). It won't be this summer, I can't promise it will be in the fall," said Frist, R-Tenn. "More likely, it will be in the early part of next year, but within the next 12 months."
Cornyn, R-Texas., said he was unaware of Frist's comments and found them disturbing. "I hope that isn't right," said Cornyn, who is likely to unveil his proposal, including a guest worker program, next week with his co-author, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.
"My impression was that he wanted to do something sooner rather than later," Cornyn said. "I need to talk to him."
'Comprehensive approach'
Frist's comments came during a conference call on border security measures with reporters that coincided with the Senate's debate on the 2006 homeland security spending bill.
Frist said one reason for taking time with the issue was that the Senate's Republican leadership was aiming at a "comprehensive approach" on the idea of guest workers and immigration reform to attract bipartisan support. He said the leadership would "look at what the president has (proposed) and look at individual initiatives."
The majority leader also said he had asked the Government Accountability Office, Congress' watchdog agency, to analyze how many illegal immigrants die annually trying to enter the United States.
"We must protect our nation from those who seek to enter it illegally, but we also have a moral obligation to protect all who set foot on our soil from physical harm," he said.
The delay on immigration legislation this year is largely due to the upcoming Supreme Court confirmation hearings to replace the retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
The confirmation proceedings occur in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will also be partly responsible for handling an immigration bill.
Once the committee acts, the full Senate must vote on the nominee. The intensity of that debate is expected to consume a good deal of the Senate's schedule and drastically reduce the number of other bills in the Senate this year.
Concern, disappointment
Still, the news from Frist, who is in charge of scheduling which legislation hits the floor, shocked lawmakers who have spent months crafting immigration proposals.
One of them is Sen. John McCain, a Republican from Arizona who introduced a bill in May with Massachusetts Democrat Ted Kennedy.
The Judiciary Committee is expected to hold a hearing on that measure, as well as the Cornyn-Kyl bill, this month.
"I am very concerned and very disappointed," said McCain, whose legislation would allow illegal immigrants to earn U.S. citizenship. "It's not helpful. More and more bad things happen. There is greater risk for terrorists crossing our borders. There are greater health care and law enforcement costs."
McCain said he hopes the drumbeat of concerns will keep the pressure on Frist to take up an immigration bill.
Cornyn, who chairs the Judiciary Committee's immigration subcommittee, and Kyl, who chairs the homeland security subcommittee, have held a half-dozen hearings on the immigration issue over the past few months.
Their bill would create a guest worker program that mirrors Bush's preference for a system that lets immigrants work here for three years before having to return to their home countries.
It also would include plans for stronger border enforcement and the phasing-in of requirements for all U.S. employers to verify the immigration status of their employees.
Last overhaul took 5 years
But that bill, as well as the McCain-Kennedy measure, will have a tough time in 2006. All of the House and one-third of the Senate will be up for election.
Joseph Vail, director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Houston Law Center, said Congress has historically taken a long time to act on immigration.
Lawmakers spent about five years crafting the last immigration overhaul bill, which passed in 1986.
Still a gutless wonder.
Begs the question, what IS the Senate going to get to this year?
What a stellar example of leadership and testicular fortitude Frist has provided.... (/sarcasm)
Well lets see....they held hearings on steroids in baseball...right?
That is WAYYYYY more important than immigration/borders!!!!
Karl Rove. That's apparently going to be longer than the Scott Peterson trial.
Yeah do the important things first frist. Backbone legislation should be at the top of your list.
ping
I wonder how quick they could get to this if a terrorist attack happened tomorrow, and it was revealed that they came across the border illegally?
Too hot to handle, huh?
Well .. when the bomb goes off .. I wonder if our esteemed senators will be able to find the time to fix our borders .. that is if the senate building is still standing ..??
At least they didn't take "action" by having an amnesty.
"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,
1. The act of invading; the act of encroaching upon the rights or possessions of another; encroachment; trespass.
Frist, Bush and Co. are worthless sacks of sh- er, liberals.
Here comes Frist starting to pose moderate for his presidential run in '08.
DONE:
Baseball & Steroids
Valerie Plame & Wilson fiasco
NOT DONE:
Immigration
Social Security
The Gray Elephants better get their trunks out of their collective ears....cause there is a groundswell of pent up anger over illegal immigration all across this nation.
Increasing the number of H1-B temporary guest workers, I'm sure. That's got to be high on their list of priorities.
My guess is the Supreme Court nomination is about all that's really left now on the Congressional agenda. Sure, they'll take care of the routine accounting & pork but that's about it. The SC nom will pretty much tie up the rest of this year's session. The House might waste some time doing something important, but the Senate won't get to it before Congress adjourns.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is NO leader! He needs to be replaced. Spector too! Nothing has happened so far. NOTHING! Bill Frist is too soft. Is there anybody who would do a better job than Frist?
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