Posted on 06/14/2007 11:16:52 AM PDT by kristinn
A spokeman for the Bush administration sent an e-mail to Jim Robinson and myself confirming the authenticity of a post on Free Republic this afternoon regarding the immigration bill currently before the Senate as having been posted on behalf of the White House.
The spokesman, Nicholas Thompson, works for the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives. The Politico reported yesterday that Thompson and Kerrie Rushton, associate directors in the Office of Strategic Initiatives who work under Karl Rove, would be engaging the blogosphere on the immigration bill.
Thompson's post is on the thread titled Penalty Mitigation in the Immigration Reform Bill, a vanity posted by philman_36. Thompson posted at comment #53.
Thompson's e-mail to Free Republic included a brief introduction and the text of his posted comment:
Hi,
I just wanted to let you know that I just posted a response to the post "Penalty Mitigation in the Immigration Reform Bill."
The White House appreciates the opportunity to respond on Free Republic.
Response:
I would like to point out that the Secretary is authorized to reduce or mitigate penalities against employers who in good faith are trying to comply with the law. Certainly, we understand that not all employers knowingly hire illegal immigrants; this will remain the case, especially before the bills new secure documentation requirements are fully phased in. We do not seek to wrongly penalize honest employers who unknowingly hire illegal immigrants, therefore we reserve the right to reduce or mitigate their penalties if the employer can show good faith compliance in following the law.
For those employers who do knowingly hire illegal immigrants, please know that we intend to penalize these employers strongly, and the Administration has already stepped up these penalties in the last couple of years. For example, a 2005 program, Operation Rollback, assessed $15,000,000 in civil fines to employers, an amount greater than the sum of administrative fines collected in the previous eight years and was the largest worksite enforcement penalty in US history. In the first quarter of FY07, criminal and civil forfeitures have totaled $26,700,000 for employers.
As a reminder of whats in the bill, fines for hiring an illegal worker are $5,000 maximum per illegal worker for the first offense, $10,000 maximum per illegal worker for the second, $25,000 maximum per illegal worker for the third , and $75,000 maximum per illegal worker for the fourth. In addition, the bill increases the maximum criminal penalty for a pattern or practice of unlawful hiring twenty-five-fold, from $3,000 to $75,000, and would impose a prison term of up to six months. This represents a significant increase in fines for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.
Nicholas Thompson
White House Office of Strategic Initiatives
I don’t find a post where I advocated that idea. I think we should deport ANY illegal immigrant who comes in contact with any US law official. The most important item of all is to build the fence first and foremost. If I could personally escort each of those 12-20 million illegals to the border myself, I would! That’s how I feel about it. I’m not really concerned with the bleeding heart liberals who would cry “racial profiling”! From what I’ve read, MOST of the illegals are Mexican. Yes, a number are from countries all across the world - that’s where the contact with law enforcement comes in. I don’t care what country you’re from, if you’re here illegally you have already broken our laws and shown that you have no respect for my country. If I had my wish, we would shut down ALL immigration and ALL borders for a period of time until the fence is built, deport as many illegals as possible and then start over! But that’s my fantasy. lol I am in total agreement with many of the ideas that you listed, Tammy8. All of that should be part of the plan also!!!
Great post!
I wish I could get this through my senators heads. (Voinivich and Brown) We’re doomed if they don’t close the LOOPHOLES!
EVERY FREEPER NEEDS TO CHECK THIS OUT!!! you really made my day!!
Out of those 195,000, how many were visa overstay violations? How many have come BACK across the border because our government refuses to stop them?
Nah, a revolution is too much trouble; the thing to do is stop sending money to Washington, D.C. Money talks, and so does the lack of it.
Glad you enjoyed it. :)
got it - thanx mon
Mr Thompson, welcome. I have been a reader of Free Republic for a number of years, and finally decided to register to voice my opinion on this immigration fiasco, as I just can no longer stand the position of the White House and many members of congress on this issue. The bottom line here is why can we trust you to carry out any provisions of the proposed legislation, when you have totally failed to enforce existing law. The White House has lost any credibility, and the confidence of the American people.
Hey WB,,,I can’t get that clock to import...
thats beyond my abilities also. Its probably javas cript embedded int the page code.
I got that in an e-mail today,,,still goin’ through the links on that site,,,lotta info to read...don’t look good.
I hope he reads the FR comments and gets an idea what his former constituency is thinking.
NWO
The very term Snortzenegger has been using lately to give CA conservative Republicans and Independents "Post Partum Depression!"
ccg... how do you like my new moniker for Arnoiled? (snort!) (It was a contest between Shwortsnayger and Snortzenegger!)
Heres a list of key Senate contacts for EVERYONE to email regarding immigration. Many offices are putting calls straight to voicemail and they can just trash faxes (and letters take weeks to get through due to security). Lets hit Hill staff where they are so codependent - their Blackberries. Send email directly to staff - not just the
generic Senators mailbox. Contact their Chief of Staff, Legislative Director, and Press Secretary. Make your voice heard!!
Make sure you cut and paste the email addresses, instead of just clicking on them, as the HTML is only picking up half the email address (for some reason it cuts off the first name of the recipients).
Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Chief of Staff
tom_ingram@alexander.senate.gov
Legislative Director
david_morgenstern@alexander.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
scot_montrey@alexander.senate.gov
lee_pitts@alexander.senate.gov
Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO)
Chief of Staff
sean_conway@allard.senate.gov
Legislative Director
charles_cogar@allard.senate.gov
Communications Director
laura_condeluci@allard.senate.gov
Press Secretary
steve_wymer@allard.senate.gov
Senator Robert Bennett (R-UT)
Chief of Staff
maryjane_collipriest@bennett.senate.gov
Legislative Director
mark_morrison@bennett.senate.gov
Press Secretary
emily_christensen@bennett.senate.gov
Senator Christopher Kit Bond (R-MO)
Chief of Staff
brian_klippenstein@bond.senate.gov
Legislative Director
kara_smith@bond.senate.gov
Communications Director
shana_marchio@bond.senate.gov
Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS)
Chief of Staff
glen_chambers@brownback.senate.gov
Domestic Policy Advisor
brian_robertson@brownback.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
john_rankin@brownback.senate.gov
brian_hart@brownback.senate.gov
Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY)
Chief of Staff
blake_brickman@bunning.senate.gov
Legislative Director
kim_dean@bunning.senate.gov
Press Secretary
mike_reynard@bunning.senate.gov
Senator Richard Burr (R-NC)
Chief of Staff
alicia_peterson-clark@burr.senate.gov
alicia_petersonclark@burr.senate.gov
Legislative Director
Natasha_hickman@burr.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
laura_caudell@burr.senate.gov
mark_williams@burr.senate.gov
Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Chief of Staff
charlie_harmon@chambliss.senate.gov
Legislative Director Monty Philpot
monty_philpot@chambliss.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
annelaurie_waters@chambliss.senate.gov
Angie_Lundberg@Chambliss.Senate.gov
Lindsay_mabry@chambliss.senate.gov
Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS)
Chief of Staff
jenny_manley@cochran.senate.gov
Legislative Director
ta_hawks@cochran.senate.gov
Press Secretary
margaret_wicker@cochran.senate.gov
margaret_mcphillips@cochran.senate.gov
Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN)
Chief of Staff
Jennifer_lowe@coleman.senate.gov
Deputy Chief of Staff
lucia_lebens@coleman.senate.gov
Legislative Director
lorianne_moss@coleman.senate.gov
Communications Director
tom_steward@coleman.senate.gov
tom_stewart@coleman.senate.gov
Press Secretary
leroy_coleman@coleman.senate.gov
Senator Susan Collins (R-ME)
Chief of Staff
steve_abbott@collins.senate.gov
Deputy Chief of Staff
Marybeth_carozza@collins.senate.gov
Legislative Director
jane_alonso@collins.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
elissa_davidson@collins.senate.gov
jen_burita@collins.senate.gov
kevin_kelley@collins.senate.gov
Senator Bob Corker (R-TN)
Chief of Staff
todd_womack@corker.senate.gov
Legislative Director
paul_palagyi@corker.senate.gov
Press Secretary
laura_lefler@corker.senate.gov
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX)
Chief of Staff
peter_olson@cornyn.senate.gov
Legislative Director
russ_thomasson@cornyn.senate.gov
Counsel
chip_roy@judiciary.senate.gov
matthew_johnson@judiciary.senate.gov
Ramona_mcgee@judiciary.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
brian_walsh@cornyn.senate.gov
don_stewart@cornyn.senate.gov
john_drogin@cornyn.senate
Senator Larry Craig (R-ID)
Chief of Staff
mike_ware@craig.senate.gov
Legislative Director
brooke_roberts@craig.senate.gov
Senior Policy Advisor
travis_jones@craig.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
dan_whiting@craig.senate.gov
Senator Michael Crapo (R-ID)
Chief of Staff
peter_fischer@crapo.senate.gov
pete_fischer@crapo.senate.gov
Legislative Director
Kenneth_flanz@crapo.senate.gov
Senior Policy Advisor
staci_lancaster@crapo.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
susan_wheeler@crapo.senate.gov
Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC)
Chief of Staff
bret_bernhardt@demint.senate.gov
Legislative Director
matt_hoskins@demint.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
Wesley_denton@demint.senate.gov
Senator Elizabeth Dole (R-NC)
Chief of Staff
greg_gross@dole.senate.gov
Legislative Director
al_garesche@dole.senate.gov
General Counsel
ryan_meyers@dole.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
Katie_norman@dole.senate.gov
Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM)
Chief of Staff
steve_bell@domenici.senate.gov
Legislative Director
edward_hild@domenici.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
chris_gallegos@domenici.senate.gov
Immigration LA
tara_shaw@domenici.senate.gov
Senator John Ensign (R-NV)
Chief of Staff
john_lopez@ensign.senate.gov
Legislative Director
pam_thiessen@ensign.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
tory_mazzola@ensign.senate.gov
jack_finn@ensign.senate.gov
don_tatro@ensign.senate.gov
Senator Michael Enzi (R-WY)
Chief of Staff
flip_mcconnaughey@enzi.senate.gov
Legislative Director
randi_reid@enzi.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
coy_knobel@enzi.senate.gov
elly_pickett@enzi.senate.gov
Immigration LA
wendy_gnehm@enzi.senate.gov
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Chief of Staff
richard_perry@lgraham.senate.gov
Legislative Director
jennifer_olson@lgraham.senate.gov
jen_olson@lgraham.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
wes_hickman@lgraham.senate.gov
kevin_bishop@lgraham.senate.gov
Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA)
Chief of Staff
david_young@grassley.senate.gov
Legislative Director
kolan_davis@grassley.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
jill_kozney@grassley.senate.gov
beth_pellett_levine@grassley.senate.gov
Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH)
Chief of Staff
joel_maiola@gregg.senate.gov
Legislative Director
nancy_perkins@gregg.senate.gov
General Counsel
christopher_gahan@gregg.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
erin_rath@gregg.senate.gov
Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE)
Chief of Staff
louann_linehan@hagel.senate.gov
Legislative Director
paul_kong@hagel.senate.gov
General Counsel
steve_taylor@hagel.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
mike_buttry@hagel.senate.gov
jordan_stark@hagel.senate.gov
Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
Chief of Staff
patricia_knight@hatch.senate.gov
Legislative Director
jace_johnson@hatch.senate.gov
Deputy LD
chris_campbell@hatch.senate.gov
Counsel
bill_castle@hatch.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
peter_carr@hatch.senate.gov
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)
Chief of Staff
marc_short@hutchison.senate.gov
Legislative Director
matthew_acock@hutchison.senate.gov
james_christoferson@hutchison.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
jamie_loftus@hutchison.senate.gov
geoff_embler@hutchison.senate.gov
General Counsel
beto_cardenas@hutchison.senate.gov
Senator James Inhofe (R-OK)
Chief of Staff
glenn_powell@inhofe.senate.gov
Legislative Director
aloysius_hogan@inhofe.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
ryan_thompson@inhofe.senate.gov
Immigration LA
john_bonsell@inhofe.senate.gov
Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Chief of Staff
heath_garrett@isakson.senate.gov
Legislative Counsel
glee_smith@isakson.senate.gov
Senior LA
michael_quiello@isakson.senate.gov
Senior Policy Advisor/Communications Director
joan_kirchner@isakson.senate.gov
Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
Chief of Staff
tim_glazewski@kyl.senate.gov
Legislative Director
elizabeth_maier@kyl.senate.gov
Chief Counsel
Stephen_higgins@judiciary.senate.gov
Judiciary Counsel
joe_matal@judiciary.senate.gov
Legislative Counsel
lucy_murfitt@kyl.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
Andrew_wilder@kyl.senate.gov
Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)
Chief of Staff
bret_boyles@lott.senate.gov
Legislative Director
jim_sartucci@lott.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
susan_irby@lott.senate.gov
nick_simpson@lott.senate.gov
Legislative Counsel
hugh_gamble@lott.senate.gov
National Security Advisor
mitch_waldman@lott.senate.gov
Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN)
Chief of Staff
marty_morris@lugar.senate.gov
Legislative Director
chris_geeslin@lugar.senate.gov
Deputy LD
joe_odonnell@lugar.senate.gov
Senior LA
Shellie_bressler@lugar.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
andy_fisher@lugar.senate.gov
Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL)
Chief of Staff
john_little@martinez.senate.gov
Legislative Director
michael_zehr@martinez.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
ken_lundberg@martinez.senate.gov
Senator John McCain (R-AZ)
Chief of Staff
vacant
Legislative Director
ann_begeman@mccain.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
eileen_mcmenamin@mccain.senate.gov
andrea_jones@mccain.senate.gov
Counsel
lee_dunn@mccain.senate.gov
Senior LA
chris_paul@mccain.senate.gov
Judiciary LA
joe_donoghue@mccain.senate.gov
Foreign Affairs LA
richard_fontaine@mccain.senate.gov
Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Chief of Staff
billy_piper@mcconnell.senate.gov
Legislative Director
scott_raab@mcconnell.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
robert_steurer@mcconnell.senate.gov
julie_adams@mcconnell.senate.gov
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Chief of Staff
donna_murray@murkowski.senate.gov
Legislative Director
Isaac_edwards@murkowski.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
danielle_holland@murkowski.senate.gov
kristin_pugh@murkowski.senate.gov
Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS)
Chief of Staff
Jackie_cottrell@roberts.senate.gov
Legislative Director
mike_seyfert@roberts.senate.gov
Deputy LD
Jennifer_swenson@roberts.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
sarah_little@roberts.senate.gov
molly_mueller@roberts.senate.gov
Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
Chief of Staff
rick_dearborn@sessions.senate.gov
Legislative Director
alan_hanson@sessions.senate.gov
Chief Counsel
cindy_hayden@sessions.senate.gov
Deputy Counsel
charles_campbell@sessions.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
michael_brumas@sessions.senate.gov
emily_mathis@sessions.senate.gov
Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL)
Chief of Staff
vacant
Legislative Director
laura_friedel@shelby.senate.gov
Office Manager
anne_caldwell@shelby.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
katie_boyd@shelby.senate.gov
Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR)
Chief of Staff
john_easton@gsmith.senate.gov
Legislative Director
rob_epplin@gsmith.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
rc_hammond@gsmith.senate.gov
Other Key Aides
beth_stewart@gsmith.senate.gov
dan_knezevic@gsmith.senate.gov
lori_prater@gsmith.senate.gov
Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
Chief of Staff
john_richter@snowe.senate.gov
Legislative Director
ray_krncevic@snowe.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
jake_ward@snowe.senate.gov
david_snepp@snowe.senate.gov
Senior Policy Advisor
ginny_worrest@snowe.senate.gov
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Chief of Staff
scott_hoeflich@specter.senate.gov
Deputy Chief of Staff/Legislative Director
thomas_dower@specter.senate.gov
Legislative Counsel
seema_singh@specter.senate.gov
seema_singh@judiciary.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
vacant
Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK)
Chief of Staff
george_lowe@stevens.senate.gov
Legislative Director
karina_waller@stevens.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
aaron_saunders@stevens.senate.gov
courtney_boone@stevens.senate.gov
steven_wackowski@stevens.senate.gov
Senator John Sununu (R-NH)
Chief of Staff
paul_collins@sununu.senate.gov
Legislative Director
mike_orielly@sununu.senate.gov
michael_oreilly@sununu.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
barbara_riley@sununu.senate.gov
Senator Craig Thomas (R-WY)
seat is currently vacant due to Senator Thomas death.
Senator John Thune (R-SD)
Chief of Staff
m_zabel@thune.senate.gov
matthew_zabel@thune.senate.gov
Legislative Director
david_schwietert@thune.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
kyle_downey@thune.senate.gov
jessica_ferguson@thune.senate.gov
Senator David Vitter (R-LA)
Chief of Staff
kyle_ruckert@vitter.senate.gov
Legislative Director
tonya_newman@vitter.senate.gov
Legislative Counsel
wendy_fleming@vitter.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
joel_digrado@vitter.senate.gov
mac_abrams@vitter.senate.gov
Senator George Voinovich (R-OH)
Chief of Staff
phil_park@voinovich.senate.gov
Counsel
george_callas@voinovich.senate.gov
doug_dziak@voinovich.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
chris_paulitz@voinovich.senate.gov
Senator John Warner (R-VA)
Chief of Staff
ann_loomis@warner.senate.gov
Legislative Director
chris_yianilos@warner.senate.gov
Legislative Counsel
angela_stewart@warner.senate.gov
Senior LA
conrad_schatte@warner.senate.gov
Press Secretary/Communications Director
john_ullyot@warner.senate.gov
Make sure you cut and paste the email addresses, instead of just clicking on them, as the HTML is only picking up half the email address (for some reason it cuts off the first name of the recipients).
emails should look like this:
firstname_lastname@senatorslastname.senate.gov
MAKE SURE YOU CUT AND PASTE THE EMAILS OR THEY WON’T WORK!!!
The taxpayers have been shouldering the financial burdens of the cost of illegals for years and it becomes more and more cumbersome. Illegals often get free benefits that a poor, hard working family can't get. Yet you want us to support this endeavor to make our load heavier while some of our own still go without.
How can we have any faith in a man who has allowed two Border Agents; Compean and Ramos,to sit in prison for doing their jobs while an illegal drug runner goes free and has made a mockery out of our system.
The average American is tired of having Washington cram legislation crammed down our throats that we disagree with. The President's track record on border enforcement is dismal, at best. He speaks of fighting terrorism, but allows thousands of illegals to walk into this country every week, without batting an eyelash. And while our brave men and women are fighting in Iraq in this war on terror, Bush is and has, allowed America to become sitting ducks for any terrorist to walk across our borders bearing chemical weapons that could bring this country to her knees.
Please tell Mr. Bush he has played his hand wrong on this issue. He is sending conflicting messages to us out here who have supported him. (I attended both of his inaugurations and I have two children who served in Iraq) My support for him is waning because of his stubbornness on this crucial issue.
That said, please tell the President the appropriate course of action is to secure the borders first, and only then to worry about what to do with the folks already here.
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