Posted on 05/17/2006 5:02:57 PM PDT by notes2005
WASHINGTON - Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, who has pushed a tough border security bill through the House, accused President Bush on Wednesday of abandoning the legislation after asking for many of its provisions.
"He basically turned his back on provisions of the House-passed bill, a lot of which we were requested to put in the bill by the White House," Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., angrily told reporters in a conference call. "That was last fall when we were drafting the bill, and now the president appears not to be interested in it at all."
Sensenbrenner chairs the House Judiciary Committee and would be the House's chief negotiator on any final immigration package for Bush's signature. He said it was the White House that had requested two controversial felony provisions in the bill the House passed last winter.
"We worked very closely with White House in the fall in putting together the border security bill that the House passed," he said. "... What we heard in November and December, he seems to be going in the opposite direction in May. That is really at the crux of this irritation," he said of Bush.
White House spokesman Alex Conant said Bush has been consistent in seeking comprehensive immigration reform. "He applauded the House's action to strengthen our borders and is now urging the Senate to pass a bill," Conant said.
Sensenbrenner spoke with reporters as the Senate worked this week on a broader bill that generally follows the approach Bush laid out Monday night in his nationally televised speech. That includes offering most of the nation's 12 million illegal immigrants an opportunity to eventually become citizens — an act that Sensenbrenner and other conservatives label as amnesty.
"I was very disappointed in the president's speech," Sensenbrenner said. "I think he doesn't get it."
Asked if Bush mollified conservatives in the speech by calling for sending National Guard troops to states along the Mexican border, Sensenbrenner said, "He failed in that completely."
And despite Bush's insistence that he was not calling for amnesty, Sensenbrenner said, "Well it is an amnesty, because it allows people who have broken the law to stay in the country."
"The president has repeatedly and forcefully rejected amnesty," Conant said. "Under his plan, you're going to have to pay stiff fines, follow the law, stay employed, learn English and — after achieving all those things — go to the back of the line."
Sensenbrenner did not attend a closed-door meeting between Bush political adviser Karl Rove and House Republicans, but said that some members complained to him that Rove didn't stay around for many questions or hear what lawmakers had to say.
"The overwhelming majority of those that I talked to who were at the conference believe that he dissed the House Republicans," Sensenbrenner said.
We already learned from a history lesson, 1986 IRCA, apparently you didn't. Amnesty didn't work then and it won't work now. Enforcement fisrt so they can't pull the funding after the shafting.
Methinks President Bush and some Senators are following its blueprint for failure on purpose, nothing else makes sense.
Nice sound byte.
Was just reading this thread....I don't know why either.
Well, those protests were well timed for the quickie way they tried to pass McKennedy. Remembe the fingerpointing at Sessions and Reid?
"The felony thing was not thought out, and just blew up, unexpectedly. Color me cynical, but the felony thing was just WH window dressing anyway, I suspect."
I think it was very well thought out. And devious. Those protests were well-funded, well supplied, well planned (some were instantaneous).
Early on Rove was leaking to the media that the "Republican conservatives" would be the problem. Given his experience with liberals deep seated needs to not advocate themselves but define themselves againt the "right wing" they fell for the meme. To this day though many Democrats age against you wouldn't know it. MSM asks them no questions, gives them no voice. They're pushing this anti-worker bill on the basis of hate for people they consider anti-worker!
What is so difficult to understand about Whashington in general being corrupt. Honest men will always be brought in on a line and find themselves gasping for air wondering why they were lied to.
I'll add Sessenbrenner might have another problem. He might air the trick Bush pulled on him, but the MSM will define it as proof of Bush's cruelty, rather than a clever ruse to define his opponents so.
Good points to ponder.
Sensenbrenner is a smart man. I have met him and spoken to him. Sensenbrenner was well aware of the fact that his bill would never pass the Senate.
I think the media are spinning this. I am convinced that we are not getting the entire story.
Something is missing.
"The overwhelming majority of those that I talked to who were at the conference believe that he dissed the House Republicans," Sensenbrenner said.
Wow. This White House is starting to resemble the gang that couldn't shoot straight.
What on earth is going on over there?
The government was, as you say, organized to prevent dictatorship, but the executive branch is the branch responsible for the enforcement of our laws and for protecting the country from outside invasions (hence the word "executive".
I've read the federalist papers.
I note that Benjamin Franklin was very opposed to illegal immigration as well.
I would have found acceptable your proposal for a wall and additional troops. You are right though, I would have continued to complain about not doing it sooner, since the presendent has not yet spent all of the money allocated to him for border agents by the Congress.
What we want is a serious resolution of the problem, not a nibbling around the edges toward a goal 50 years off into the future. That's like curing my cancer by the time I'm 150 yeras old. Thanks, but no thanks.
The "art of politics" doesn't carry alot of weight with me. I'm a taxpayer.
Anyone still think Terry Reed's book "Compromised" is tin foil hat stuff?
Media spin is something that must ALWAYS be presumed. Still, I don't think they would completely fabricate this quote:
"The overwhelming majority of those that I talked to who were at the conference believe that he dissed the House Republicans," Sensenbrenner said.
What is more important to President Bush and his sidekick than getting his Amnesty passed?
Good question...any suggestions?
Bush is toast - his effective presidency ended with his prime time speech.
The Senate is now irrevelant - it doesn't matter if it stays Rino or goes to the Dems. We'll see how things match up in 2008.
The GOP primaries will result in more conservative candidates for November. If the mixture is right, conservative voters will turn out in force to support the only branch of government willing to listen to the people.
The House will remain in GOP hands, so Bush is safe from impeachment. However, it will move farther to the right and the Speaker will become the most powerful government leader in the country.
Bush will of course retain titular control, but he's done.
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