U.S. SENATORS WHO VOTED 'NO' ON S.2611, AGAINST AMNESTY ... 32 R 4 D

Senators' Websites ^ | May 29, 2006 | La Enchiladita

[La Enchiladita]

What follows is a listing of the Senators who voted AGAINST the S. 2611 amnesty bill. I have expanded the list to include each Senator's comments specific to the legislation, where available, and listed the link to their e-mail address or contact form.

I have now sent a message of "Thank You" and support to each one. I hope many of you will want to do the same in greater of lesser degree, perhaps contacting only your own Senator and a few others, hopefully all. I tried to make it *easy* for you.

WHY DO SO? Many of these Senators will be in 'conference' with House members and need to know they did the right thing and please continue. 'Thank You' is an affirmation to all that they did the right thing if and when similarly unacceptable legislation returns to the Senate for a vote.

Or, please add your thoughts of why this is a good action.

Just Piper has researched and compiled similar information on members of the House Immigration Caucus, for which I hope she will create a thread also when we know who will be conferees.

[La Enchiladita]

Congratulations. He has also been the most consistent of all Senators in standing up for our great U.S. military.

[stephenjohnbanker]

Thanks very much for all this work. BTTT

[RetiredArmy]

Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV)

I oppose this amnesty bill – absolutely and unequivocally. I oppose this effort to waive the rules for lawbreakers, and to legalize the unlawful actions of undocumented workers and the businesses that illegally employ them.

I would never have believed this if his name was not on it. HELL JUST FROZE OVER.

[Seadog Bytes]

RE: "Three Moonies for "Hanoi John""

DISGUSTING!!! ...LOL!

[looscnnn]

You were expecting DeMint to get named? It is not suprising, Graham has been a very vocal cheerleader for the President's plan (as he said he would be). When is he due up for re-election, 2008? We need another DeMint type (hmmm...good reason for cloning).

[OKIEDOC]

Letter from Senator Inhofe in reply to my thanks email.

Please read

Dear Doctor

Thank you for your interest in the recently-passed Senate immigration bill, S. 2611, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 .



I have stated many times that any immigration solution I will support must address our porous border, must not provide amnesty or reward illegal behavior, and must improve the naturalization process for those who come here legally. In my opinion and the opinion of many experts, commentators, and 95% of the thousands of Oklahomans who contacted my office, S. 2611 did not meet these requirements; therefore, on May 25, I voted against the legislation (which passed 62-36). Although I am disappointed that S. 2611 passed, I am hopeful that the strong and conservative House of Representatives will answer the call of the American people and insist upon sensible immigration reform in the conference between the Senate and the House to iron out the major differences between the two bills.



As you may know, on December 16, 2005, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 4437, the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005 with a vote of 239-182. Overall, I was pleased with the legislation that came out of the House. H.R. 4437 emphasized border enforcement and did not include amnesty or a guest worker program. On January 27 of this year, the House referred its bill to the Senate.



Despite efforts by some in the Senate Judiciary Committee to produce legislation like H.R. 4437, there was considerable disagreement over the Senate version of the bill. You may remember the highly-publicized and divisive debate in the Senate at the end of March and the beginning of April. At that time, there were essentially three bills up for discussion: the Senate Judiciary Committee version modeled after the McCain-Kennedy bill, Senator Frist's border enforcement bill, and the "Hagel-Martinez Compromise." Eventually, all of these bills failed when cloture, a procedural vote to end debate, was unsuccessful. The reason for the cloture vote failures was largely due to Republican opposition to the obstructionist tactics of the Senate Minority Leader, Harry Reid; afraid of amendments that would strip amnesty provisions from the bills, Reid and the Democrats blocked all amendments.




After a month of negotiations, the Senate resumed the immigration debate on May 15. The new underlying bill was the "Hagel-Martinez Compromise" as filed by Senator Specter (S. 2611). The Compromise divided the illegal immigrants currently in the United States into three groups depending on how long they have been here (over five years, between two and five years, and less than two years) and then grant delayed citizenship in varying degrees to those who have been in the United States over two years. Along with the fact that it is unfair to grant citizenship to individuals who have sidestepped the legal channels of entry, I believe that this system is a recipe for fraud as some people will surely attempt to falsely prove that they have been in the country longer than they really have been.



In addition to amnesty, I have a number of other concerns with the bill. For one, the $2000 fine required to become a citizen is less than one-fifth of the cost that many illegal immigrants usually pay to get smuggled into the country; I do not believe that the fine is large enough, especially since it will not cover the social benefits that will be paid by American taxpayers. Also, many government agencies have complained that the provisions laid out in S. 2611 place an excessive burden on their capabilities. For instance, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is requested to process security clearances for the millions of illegal immigrants currently in the country in only 90 days. If they are able to do so, which is unlikely, there is no way that the security checks will be as thorough as necessary, if at all, especially since an interview is not even required. Even after these checks, DHS must keep all information confidential, so potential terrorist threats might not be relayed to the appropriate agencies.



By increasing the level of legal immigration to three times the current level, S. 2611 also places a huge financial burden on every American taxpayer. The Heritage Foundation's Robert Rector predicts that in eleven years S. 2611 will begin costing the taxpayer approximately $50 billion annually. This is due to a number of factors including the low education levels of many of the illegal immigrants, as well as some portions of the bill that do not require employers of illegal immigrants to pay back taxes and which allow illegal immigrants to collect Social Security benefits for the period for which they did not have legal status. It is not right to push this financial burden onto future generations of Americans. While there are provisions I supported in S. 2611 that will be effective, such as extending the fence along the southern border, the overall expense, security risks, and ambiguities of the bill are simply too great.



The ENFORCE Act, S. 2117, which I introduced late last year, solves many of the problems the current Senate bill fails to address including: providing for the construction of a complete, high-security, state of the art fence to prevent illegal border crossings; the creation of a border patrol support force made up of recently-retired border patrol agents, and the creation of an Office of Investigations of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The full text of S. 2117 is available on the Library of Congress website (http://thomas.loc.gov). Although my bill remains in the Judiciary Committee due to Democrat opposition, it includes a number of provisions that I would like to see in an immigration bill coming out of the Senate-House conference.



I understand that Americans want the government to secure our borders and not grant amnesty to illegal aliens. I support the United States citizens' belief in compassionate immigration when it is done legally, but it is unfair to these legal immigrants when we ignore the rules and reward law breakers for crossing our borders illegally. Being an American is a great privilege, and it should be treated as such.



Thank you for your correspondence. It is an honor to represent you in Washington . Please contact me with any concerns in the future.





Sincerely,

A

James M. Inhofe

United States Senator

[LAMBERT LATHAM]

Also e-mail the 62 sellouts and ask why they are siding with Bush and criminals against the American people.



U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109th Congress - 2nd Session

as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate

Vote Summary

Question: On Passage of the Bill (S. 2611 As Amended )
Vote Number: 157 Vote Date: May 25, 2006, 05:39 PM
Required For Majority: 1/2 Vote Result: Bill Passed
Measure Number: S. 2611 (Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 )
Measure Title: A bill to provide for comprehensive immigration reform and for other purposes.
Vote Counts: YEAs 62
NAYs 36
Not Voting 2


Vote Summary By Senator Name By Vote Position By Home State

Grouped By Vote Position
YEAs ---62
Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Bennett (R-UT)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brownback (R-KS)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Chafee (R-RI)
Clinton (D-NY)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Craig (R-ID)
Dayton (D-MN)
DeWine (R-OH)
Dodd (D-CT)
Domenici (R-NM)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Frist (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Obama (D-IL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Stevens (R-AK)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)
Wyden (D-OR)

[OKIEDOC]

If talk radio here in San Diego is any indicator of the out rage this Shamnesty has caused then many politicians will find themselves in trouble come November.

I read a poll today saying 87% of Americans are against any form of Amnesty for illegal aliens.

[LAMBERT LATHAM]

That's good. All of the sellouts should be voted out of office.

Every Democrat who voted for it should see letters in their home state newspapers asking why they sided with Bush against the American people. Reading letters like that will make their morning coffee bitter.

[OKIEDOC]

Well pardoner I have been a tireless keyboard warrior for the past few months.

I have written and complained and shouted to anyone who would listen that this is a bad bill.

[Da Bilge Troll]

I have written to both my Senators (Bond & Talent) and my representative (Akin) and thanked them all. I feel wonderful knowing that all three of my federal reps are patriots!

I urge everyone here who has a rep in either house who voted correctly on this issue to let them know that you appreciate it and that you support them in this. They need to hear from us when they are right as much as when they are wrong - especially when they stand strong on principal against such rabid opposition.

[LAMBERT LATHAM]

You are doing your country a great service.

[OKIEDOC]

Listening to Roger Hedgecock on local San Diego, CA KOGO AM radio.

He has played several ads funded by the National Democrat party.

These ads ask conservatives to vote for an alternative to Republican candidate for congress Brian Bilbray.

These ads ask that you vote the third party candidate who is deemed to be more conservative on border issues.

At the end of this ad it says paid for by Democrat candidate Maxine Busby for congress.

This is low life straight from the Democrat sewer by a bunch of muck diving floaters stinking up another election.

[La Enchiladita]

Bump that!

[La Enchiladita]

Thank you for showing us that response.

Since I don't reside in any of the states where Senators voted No, I received maybe a handful of responses and fairly abbreviated at that.

Inhofe gives a strong statement in his response, especially with his support of HR 4437.

[La Enchiladita]

Good work. I phoned all the Republican Yes votes.

I contacted my Senator, Feinstein, several times during the debate and not one response from her office. She is the Queen of Elitists.

The Dems, good marxists that they are, know what's best for us and will shove it down our throats.

And they're always looking for that chance.

[OKIEDOC]

Did you have an opportunity to listen to the Roger Hedgecock program of KOGO here in San Diego today and hear him really get all over Dem candidate Busby and the DNC for running low life attack ads asking conservatives to vote third party.

This morning Rick Roberts tore Congress woman Maxine Waters a new behind when she called into his show. Told her she wasn't qualified to be on a city council much less a representative in congress.

[La Enchiladita]

Forever and a day later...*g*... I believe we do not receive the KOGO signal here in L.A. I have heard both Roger Hedgecock subbing for Rush, and Rick Roberts subbing for Savage.

LOL. What did Maxine "The Mouth" have to say in reply to Rick?

[Brandie]

Thanks for the ping