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.
Yep. Looks tight as a drum to me.
L
Well, if you did that by hand in Texas, then you're just silly, because you're always less than an hour to a backhoe rental in Texas somewhere!
Just so long as it isn't the same people who created the Big Dig. I recommend using illegal immigrants. :)-
We had considered all that damn rock in our bid either, so we was pushing hard to make our nut!
From the text of the bill:
"1) systematic surveillance of the international land and maritime borders of the United States through more effective use of personnel and technology, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, ground-based sensors, satellites, radar coverage, and cameras; and
(2) physical infrastructure enhancements to prevent unlawful entry by aliens into the United States and facilitate access to the international land and maritime borders by United States Customs and Border Protection, such as additional checkpoints, all weather access roads, and vehicle barriers."
They specifically mention wicked technology including UAV's, satellites, cameras, and ground sensors. I am against the idea of only a wall. This bill will impress you if you take the time to read it.
raybbr: "This is what he said: "We will construct high-tech fences in urban corridors, and build new patrol roads and barriers in rural areas."
"He sure was adamant about it wasn't he?"
"I think he's goind to lose sleep if he has to sign this bill because of the fence. It's got to be killing him to know that the border will actually be treated as a border."
If Bush wanted a fence, we would have had one 6-years-ago.
Bush wants amnesty and he's not going to get it.
Now he's had a fence shoved down his throat and he's choking on it like it's a bad plate of sushi.
LOL!
Sheesh. What have you been reading? Illegals are up everywhere. And, the idea that they have been going home is ludicrous. They come here to stay. There are many where I work who come here and have been here for years.
Vicente Fox to Bush: 'Wah, wah, wah. Oh si, eets deescreemeenashun! Wah!'
LOL!
Thank you.
They both walked away, which is amazing, since the pilot flew into a power line while looking for a group of running illegals.
Don't know what happened to your Laredo thread, but things like they happen from time to time.
Suddenly things are not so friendly betwixt the Bush administration and Mexico. Vicente Fox "chastised" SECSTATE Rice over comments she made last week re their fledgling democracy. What she said was quite nice and positive but they "took offense" anyway, probably looking for an excuse to bash her.
And now: October 01, 2006 03:26am Article from: Agence France-THE Mexican government plans to protest to US President George W. Bush over a fence that is to be built along the countries' border, aimed at discouraging illegal migration to the United States, foreign ministry sources said today.
I'm not giving it up. I'm a native Texan. Call them something else. Transplant Texan, hybrid Texan, winter Texan, etc.
Here in Arizona they do. The way I've read today's comments, it sounds like that is not the case in some Texas counties.
People who are in the business of reconnaisance and surveillance are banking that you're wrong. Companies that build and monitor barriers are already getting their proposal teams ready to get a chunk of the - minimum - 2 or 3 billion dollars this is going to cost.
I didn't bother to read the rest of your post, because your hypothesis is fatally flawed. Come on down my back yard - Cochise County, AZ - and try to make that claim. You'll be laughed out of town in a New York minute.
HiJinx, some say we haven't had a border (open or otherwise) a tall and I tend to agree.
Correct! Law enforcement is an essential companion to a fence; otherwise, the fence will just delay but not prevent illegal entry and will be money, time and materials wasted.
Still and all, this is an encouraging step in the right direction and I wonder if all the noise we made over Senate Bill 2611 had an effect (cough, cough).
1. Will Bush sign it?
2. Will it ever be funded?
3. Demands National ID for all Americans by 2010.
Mexico must think this is all a frigen game.
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