Posted on 09/29/2006 7:40:28 PM PDT by The Spirit Of Allegiance
Edited on 09/29/2006 7:52:46 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
The House version of the bill approving and funding the building of a U.S./Mexico border wall has overwhelmingly passed the Senate, according to KFI News.
Link to station provided.
UPDATE: Senate backs fence along Mexico border
Reuters
By Donna Smith and Richard Cowan
The U.S. Senate on Friday overwhelmingly agreed to authorize construction of a fence along the U.S. border with Mexico, sending to President George W. Bush before the November 7 elections a bill that Republicans hope will showcase their efforts to stop illegal immigration.
The Republican-written bill authorizing construction of about 700 miles of fence was one of the last bills to clear Congress as lawmakers prepared to leave Washington to campaign for the congressional elections. On a vote of 80-19 the Senate approved the bill already passed by the House of Representatives and it now goes to Bush for his signature.
Bush had sought broad immigration legislation that would create a guest-worker program to help provide a steady workforce for jobs Americans are either unable or unwilling to do. But he was unable to marshal support for it in the face of opposition from a solid group of House Republicans who pushed for tougher enforcement and border measures instead.
A separate bill approved by the House on Friday provided an initial $1.2 billion in funding for the fence and other border-security measures for the fiscal year that begins Oct 1. The money is part of a $34.8 billion bill for domestic security programs for the fiscal year that begins October 1.
The broad spending bill also criminalizes the construction of tunnels that could be secret passageways from Mexico or Canada for drug smugglers, illegal aliens or terrorists.
The Senate was expected to pass the funding bill quickly and send it on to Bush along with the fence authorization.
Opponents of the fence said it would be expensive and was not an effective deterrent to illegal immigration.
"This is a political gimmick," said Sen. Ken Salazar, a Democrat from Colorado. "It is not in the long-term interest of of the United States of America and the Western Hemisphere."
The government of Mexico on Thursday issued a statement expressing "its profound concern" with the fence. The statement, translated from Spanish, said such measures "are contrary to the spirit of cooperation that should prevail to guarantee security in the common border."
IMMIGRATION OVERHAUL
Backers of the fence said it was an important tool to clamp down against illegal immigration. An estimated 1.2 million illegal immigrants were arrested in the last fiscal year trying to cross into the United States along the border states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Sections of the fence would be built in each state.
"Fortifying our borders is the first prong of comprehensive immigration reform and it's an integral piece of national security," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican.
Lawmakers and analysts say Congress could tackle comprehensive immigration legislation in a post-election sessions, but they acknowledge difficulties.
"It will be tough but doable," said Rep. Adam Putnam (news, bio, voting record), a Florida Republican.
"There is a lot of pent up pressure and interest in doing something in the lame duck session," said Craig Regelbrugge of the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform.
Democrats accused the Republican majority of playing politics with the fence bill after raising immigration as an election-year issue but having little to show in the way of legislation.
"This is about November. This is about incumbent protection, not about border protection," said Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
Earlier this year the Senate passed broad immigration legislation that combined border security and employer sanctions with a plan to create a guest-worker program and provide a path to citizenship for many of the 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States.
The Senate and House were unable to compromise and instead resorted to passing a series narrow border security measures.
Hopefully it won't be a Simcox-type fence too.
Hmmmmm.....so Maria Cantwell voted against the wall on the Mexican border.....hmmmm....she's in campaign mode right now....I'm kinda surprised.
Indeed. The House Conservatives, as well as the Senate Republicans led by Jeff Sessions, deserve much praise. So goes the conventional wisdom this was dead without amnesty attached.
Speaking of which, I wonder what Fred barnes is thinking tonight?
"Where was Kennedy? Staggering out at a watering hole on East Capitol Street trying to hail a cab back to the floor?"
Maybe he borrowed some of Patches' sleeping pills and is not quite sure when he has to vote!
Mexico has had a wall against us gringos for many decades:
http://www.directory.com.mx/immigration
Can you believe the hypocrisy?
How much will we SAVE by keeping interlopers from our social programs and hospitals, etc?
"Where was Kennedy? Staggering out at a watering hole on East Capitol Street trying to hail a cab back to the floor?"
I loved it (Thursday PM)when he was screaming, in his drunken voice, about a foreigner, held upside down, almost drowning during interrogation. Teddy got waaaay too close to a discussion about Teddy and Miss Kopechne.
The votes of both Clinton (yea) and Lieberman (nay) surprised me.
I wonder how many bricks they ended up getting?
If McGavick is smart he'll have an ad up tomorrow highlighting her vote vs her recent claims that she's tough on the border.
"The votes of both Clinton (yea) and Lieberman (nay) surprised me."
It does pretty much describe the political picture.
Napolitano can already show us 51' ladders.
This is one R congressman we don't need. Maybe we can still win the seat with a replacement candidate, maybe not. But we sure as heck don't need child molesting gay Republicans in office, so good riddance. Just something else to be glad for, that this guy is gone.
I believe it was Tony Snow that said any measure that included tougher border enforcement MUST include a guest worker program.
Tony was the one, if I correctly remember, who had even made this suggestion as policy within a week or two of arriving at his new job.
Tony, I respect so much about you, but YOU ARE FREAKING WRONG!
EAT THIS!
"Battle of Velasco
(26 June 1832)
In an armed prelude to the Texas Revolution, the Battle of Velasco marked the first bloodshed in the then deteriorating relations between Texas and Mexico.
In the conflict, Domingo de Ugartechea, the Mexican commander in charge of a fort at the town of Velasco, attempted to block attempts by the Texans to transport a cannon for possible use against Mexican forces at nearby Anahuac. After several days of fighting, the Texans under John Austin and Henry Smith prevailed when the Mexicans exhausted their ammunition.
Before the fighting ended, however, some 8-10 Texans were killed and another 12 wounded. Mexican losses were placed at 5 killed and about 15 wounded.
Under the provisions of the truce, Ugartechea and his men were allowed to return to Mexico. Tensions later eased somewhat when Mexican officials dismissed the Mexican commander at Anahuac, who had been the primary cause for the Texan's frustration with Mexican authorities in the area."
http://www.lsjunction.com/events/velasco.htm
Funny how the Mexican War of 1847 just gets a passing mention in history books... /sarcasm off
I don't know what your approach is in totality, but it doesn't make sense to me as you've explained it.
A fence won't cause problems with legitimate business unless you can tell me what legitimate business crosses the border without our knowledge. Are GM vehicles on trucks doing the Rio Grande crossing on paths we haven't monitored?
It's not Mexico's job to guard its border, no more than it's our job to prevent felons here from sneaking into Canada or Mexico. Putting the blame on them for our stance that keeping them out is too costly is ridiculous.
If they don't care about their northern border, that's their choice. If we don't care about our southern border, that's our choice. Sounds like we're starting to care, but your assertions are definitely extremist at present. I hope you rethink them.
Exactly. Also many still do not see how difficult it is for the democrats to win 15 seats in the House and have a very tiny majority. It is a much more difficult task than many believe.
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