DiFi's
Posted on 06/08/2007 12:31:13 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - President Bush, trying to recover from a stinging setback on immigration, will personally try in a visit to the Capitol next week to revive the embattled plan for legalizing millions of unlawful immigrants.
Bush's scheduled lunch on Tuesday with GOP senators is part of a campaign by the White House and allies in both parties to placate or outmaneuver conservative Republicans who blocked the broad immigration measure this week. They said Friday they would try again to reach accord on the number of amendments the dissidents could offer.
Opponents of the bill promised to continue fighting all such efforts.
Democratic leaders accused Bush of being too tepid in pushing the legislation, which would tighten borders and offer employers more temporary workers from abroad in addition to providing lawful status to an estimated 12 million illegal aliens and putting many of them on a path toward citizenship
Many Republicans defended the president's role. But the bill's backers nonetheless welcomed his plan to attend the GOP senators' weekly luncheon in the Capitol for the first time in five years.
The visit was scheduled before this week's immigration votes, and Bush will discuss numerous subjects with Republican senators, said White House spokesman Scott Stanzel. "But certainly immigration is a topic" high on the list, he said.
Senate backers of the immigration bill fell 15 votes short of the 60 needed Thursday to limit debate and allow a vote on the measure itself. Majority Leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record), D-Nev., then set the measure aside, calling it "the president's bill" and saying Bush's direct intervention was crucial to reviving it.
On Friday, some key Republicans agreed. "Whose bill is it?" Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record), R-S.C., said in a news briefing held by bill supporters. "Harry Reid says this is the Bush proposal. Harry Reid is right."
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, talking with reporters traveling with Bush in Europe, said the president "continues to be regularly briefed" on the legislation. The administration, she said, is encouraging Reid "to keep the debate open. It's a very important issue; people want to have conversations about it."
Several Senate conservatives continue to say they have not been allowed to offer enough changes to the bill. Some of their proposals would make it easier to detect and deport immigrants who have overstayed their visas or committed other violations.
Sen. Jim DeMint (news, bio, voting record), R-S.C., a key opponent, said the bill as written "still unfairly burdens taxpayers, doesn't ensure secure borders and guarantees amnesty" for illegal immigrants.
The bill's supporters say DeMint and other critics will oppose the measure no matter how many amendments are accepted. Nonetheless, they agreed Friday that some type of peace accord with the conservatives is essential if the measure is to return to life.
"If we're able to come up with a list of amendments that could take two or even three days to complete, 10 years from now or 100 years from now who will care that it was an extra three days if we can achieve the result that we're talking about?" said Sen. Jon Kyl (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., told reporters he was hopeful because the Senate "is a chemical place. There's a flow to activity here. The tide comes in and goes out. And once in a while, the stars get lined up correctly, and we move ahead."
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., complained that critics continue to use the word "amnesty" to refer to proposals to legalize immigrants who agreed to pay fines, learn English and, at some point, briefly return to their home countries before obtaining lawful status in the U.S.
"I've listened to talk show hosts drumming up the opposition by using this word 'amnesty' over and over and over again," she said. In her 15 years in the Senate, Feinstein said, "I've never received more hate or more racist phone calls and threats."
Groups opposing the bill don't plan to let up. A group called NumbersUSA said in a statement that while the "amnesty bill ... may be dead for the year, NumbersUSA members are taking no chances." They will continue a campaign that has included 750,000 faxes sent in May, and "thousands of phone calls to Congress," the statement said.
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The bill is S 1348.
Turn your attention now to the White House, with the same intensity that you had for the Senate. Tell the President how you feel about this bill and why.
Many of you have things that you have already e-mailed, so you won’t have much to do except edit what you’ve sent.
Cut, paste, and send them to; or call or mail them to:
Mailing Address
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Phone Numbers
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD
Comments: 202-456-6213
Visitors Office: 202-456-2121
E-Mail
Please send your comments to comments@whitehouse.gov. Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House cannot respond to every message. For further up-to-date information on Presidential initiatives, current events, and topics of interest to you, please continue to use the White House website.
Vice President Richard Cheney: vice_president@whitehouse.gov
This is important: be professional and courteous. Remember that staff have to handle these, so keep the emotion limited. Pick the things out of the bill that are objectionable (you won’t have to look too hard) and kindly point them out.
Keep this bumped and send it to all of our allies.
(((What outside force would that be?)))
Dunno, but I shudder to think.
Gee, maybe because in Gates' presser today, he said that the Dems would put up a hard fight if Pace was nominated for a second term as Chairman?
I read this and all I got out of it was “blah, blah, blah...”
I would advise folks think carefully about what the
New Majority and the RMSP have brought us.. and be very cautious in who they support in the future.
There is an elite political class of folks who could care less about party lines or what is best for the country.
They are dedicated to an agenda and a vision of this world that should cause others to take notice and be very concerned about the fulfillment thereof.
No, just not bothering to pretend any longer...
Bump that, Norm.
That duck ain't just lame - it flew between Dick Cheney and a Texas lawyer.
ah gees,
Now what did I say? ;-)
So..would you want Bush to force him to go through all that? I mean maybe the man has a mind of his own or something? Ya think?
:)
No, I would expect Bush to expend at least half the effort to fight for Pace as he's spent to get amnesty for illegal aliens.
Hey, your glass is empty - do you want more of the grape Kool-Aide? Or should I mix up some nice refreshing cherry Kool-Aide instead?
In her 15 years in the Senate, Feinstein said, “I’ve never received more hate or more racist phone calls and threats.”
That tells me she’s not been reading her email or phone messges. ;)
Probably not..oh well. See ya Cindy Shee....I mean dirtboy.
I forgot ‘It’s My Party Too!’
Soros is no dummy,, he has played both sides of the aisle and had many working overtime .. I wouldn’t want to exclude the dems from any criticism of our current woeful state of politics we are all witness to today..
There are plenty of suspects to go around... and blame. :)
Would this lunch at the Capitol be a good thing to protest? Should we get something going?
Except that Gates has already said Pace won't be re-nominated.
Probably not..oh well. See ya Cindy Shee....I mean dirtboy.
You'd better hurry along - the Ted Kennedy Republicans are having their weekly Friday Happy Hour. Half price on Kool-Aide. You wouldn't want to be late.
If GW’s smart, he’ll stay as far away from this escrescence of a bill as possible. Let it stand or fall on its merits — which don’t exist.
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