Posted on 06/07/2007 9:10:00 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
A broad immigration bill to legalize millions of people in the U.S. unlawfully failed a crucial test vote in the Senate Thursday, a stunning setback that could spell its defeat for the year.
The vote was 45-50 against limiting debate on the bill, 15 short of the 60 that the bill's supporters needed to prevail. Most Republicans voted to block Democrats' efforts to bring the bill to a final vote.
The legislation, which had been endorsed by President Bush, would tighten borders, institute a new system to prevent employers from hiring undocumented workers in addition to giving up to 12 million illegal immigrants a pathway to legal status.
Conceived by an improbable coalition that nicknamed the deal a "grand bargain," the measure exposed deep rifts within both parties and is loathed by most GOP conservatives.
Senate Majority Harry Reid, D-Nev., who had made no secret of his distaste for parts of the bill, said earlier he would move on to other matters if the immigration measure's supporters didn't get 60 votes Thursday night.
The defeat set off a bitter round of partisan recriminations, with Democrats and Republicans each accusing the other of killing it.
Most Republicans voted against ending debate, saying they needed more time to make the bill tougher with tighter border security measures and a more arduous legalization process for unlawful immigrants.
All but a handful of Democrats supported the move, but they, too, were holding their noses at provisions of the bill. Many of them argued it makes second-class citizens of a new crop of temporary workers and rips apart families by prioritizing employability over blood ties in future immigration.
Still, they had argued that the measure, on balance, was worth advancing.
"We can all find different aspects of this legislation that we differ with," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the leading Democratic architect of the bill.
Reid, who had made no secret of his distaste for parts of the bill, quickly pulled it from the floor and moved on to other business, costing the measure perhaps its best chance at enactment.
He insisted that the immigration bill is not dead for the year. "I, even though disappointed, look forward to passing this bill," Reid said.
Good for the United States of America !!!
Jeff Sessions for president!!
Oh! say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
W hat so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro’ the night that our flag was still there.
Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore, dimly seen thro’ the mist of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep.
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream
‘Tis the star-spangled banner. Oh! long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footstep’s pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation,
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n - rescued land
Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, for our cause is just,
And this be our motto—”In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
I wonder how this is being portrayed on Spanish language radio stations in the southwest part of the country.
PS,screw George Bush !!!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Stunning to who?
Keep your eyes down the road. Watch for this bill to be included in a military expediture or something, like the online gambling ban was to the port security bill.
how biased is this writer? which way does he lean? hmmm... it's not obvious at all...
gosh, that’s a real shame!
i’ll be nasty pelosi and hairy reid are really upsetted.
we have won the battle, but the war goes on...
Those in Reality-Free Washington, D.C., that's who.
YES!
Yeppers. no raza
“Stunning to who?” The defeatocrats, RINOs, one-worlders, illegal employers, La Raza, criminal gangs, “immigration activists” and that lot, I would guess....
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Yeah except for one little problem.There’s a group of people including the guy in the White House who are trying to sell you out as fast as any D’craps are.Know your enemies regardless of who they’re supposed to be,cause they’ll cut your throat as quick as anyone else !!!
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