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.
The only time anything gets done by Congress is during an election year. Maybe we should have Congressional elections (House and Senate) every 6 months. That, and make the only thing an incumbent can show in a political advertisement is their voting record.
The Senator came to office making campaign promises which he immediately BROKE. Surprised......NOT!
It's at the point where I guess we should never be surprised anymore.
Killing U.S. Taxpayers by the dozens in accidents and driving our insurance rates through the roof to boot.
Why, thanks for doing THAT for me!! :-)
We had a 'copter crash near Douglas AZ this week...1 BP agent and 1 NG pilot.
Related?
...1-foot tall.
Apology accepted. It was actually a good move - much of the groundswell of public opinion against illegal immigration was begun by a handful of us 'Zonies.
Half the Democrats voted for this, so does that mean that half are racists like the eeeeeevil Republicans?
Part of the logic of leaving gaps, as it was explained to me, was to allow the BP to focus their resources on the few areas where crossing would be possible. It's an old military tactic.
If you are indeed going to become a hot spot for crossings, I would suggest you figure out a way to take advantage of all the BP personnel who will be taking up residence near you. The hotel operators here in Sierra Vista have done just that - we have had 5 new hotels built this year, and still don't have enough.
My hubby has been explaining that to me- that was his take on why they are doing it this way.
The reason I know the traffic will come right through here is because it already does when enforcement pressure is put on in AZ & Texas.
I suppose all the "teach the GOP'ers a lesson by voting for democrats " will still not be happy since it's only 700 miles.
Building ABMs against Korea and China, Tax Cuts, WOT, everything goes to hell in a handbasket if the dems win. So get 50% of the big things you want from the Pubs, or get 100% of socialized healthcare, punitive taxation, weakness abroad, and gay marriage to top it off.
If you think this is 100% of the whole pie, you're likely wrong. SOMETHING was compromised somewhere. Maybe it's the 700 miles instead of the whole shebang, maybe it's something unseen like border states not sending reserve troops to Iraq. Who know what kind of back room deals were done to trade? But I assure you that nothing happens in Washington DC without some backroom barter.
Actually, -WE- Texicans took some of that land from Mexico in 1836----before 1848!
If Pubs are a 'disgrace' to the conservative movement, then 'dems' and 'liberals' alike are a plague and poison both to the conservative movement.
A Republican that compromises for various conservative principles is a practicing conservative. A true conservative would generally vote NO to every new law.
A Conservative that demands immediate revolution on all fronts to pure libertarian ideals is a "liberal" in the classic definition, if you want to be picky.
I don't know where you got this idea, but it's not the least bit true. Treaties are not superior to statutes; nor are statutes superior to treaties. The two are Constitutionally equal. If or when they conflict, whichever occurs later becomes the (new) law of the land.
While I applaud this effort to curb illegal immigration, it is not enough. It does send a clear message to Mexico that we mean business when it comes to controlling the flow of illegals over our southern border however, the illegals will just tunnel under the fence. We are going to have to take more extreme measures if we are serious about stopping illegal immigration across the border.
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