Sen Inhofe Launches Online Immigration Petition

INHOFE ANNOUNCES ONLINE PETITION FOR AMERICANS TO SUPPORT BORDER SECURITY AND NO-AMNESTY IMMIGRATION REFORM

(JUNE 15, 2007) - U.S. Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) today announced “Secure Borders Now” (www.SecureBordersNow.com), a new website for Americans to urge the Senate to consider immigration reform that focuses on enforcing existing border security laws and opposition to amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants.

“Unfortunately it appears many in the Senate remain deaf to the voices of the American people, as yet another backroom deal has emerged designed to revive the fatally flawed immigration bill and its immediate path to amnesty. The ‘Secure Borders Now’ petition gives Americans an opportunity to voice their opposition. I hope my constituents and citizens from all across our country will take action, sign the petition and show how many Americans are strongly opposed to this bill.”

“Despite the promise of increased funding for border security and additional votes on a handful of amendments, the proposed legislation will continue to shortcut the current naturalization process and grant amnesty to 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants currently in our country. That is a trade off that I simply cannot support.

“The first step in any significant immigration legislation must be securing our borders and enforcing existing laws. It is unconscionable to make border security conditional on the guarantee of amnesty. Even with the promise of additional funding for border security, the Senate bill focuses far too much on controversial and irresponsible programs such as the ‘Z-visa’ (which I voted to eliminate), and far too little on ensuring that our borders are no longer porous.

“I have stated from the outset of this immigration debate that I will vehemently oppose any legislation that guarantees amnesty for illegal immigrants, unfairly burdens taxpayers or fails to secure our borders.

“It is time that we deal with real immigration reform beginning with border security. This is the best way to restore trust with the American people and facilitate future improvement of our immigration policy.”

On Tuesday, Senator Inhofe joined eight Senators in writing a letter to President Bush urging him to fulfill the border security provisions listed in the Senate immigration bill whether the legislation passes or not. Each border security trigger in the bill can be implemented under current law without any need for new legislation from Congress.

A Rasmussen Reports national phone survey conducted June 11 and 12, found that only 20 percent of voters wanted Congress to try and pass the Senate bill that failed last week. Sixty-nine percent favored an approach that focused “exclusively on securing the border and reducing illegal immigration.”

I first noticed Jim Inhofe in 1993 one evening very late. I was standing in my kitchen ironing, watching cspan. Special orders, house of reps....he’s going on about something called a ‘discharge petition’. It was one of the greatest moments I ever witnessed in congress. He was threatened by the leadership to shut up or leave congress. He stood his ground and did a good thing. Here’s an article.

House of Representatives ends secrecy about petitions to get bills out of committee
10/05/1993

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A freshman congressman from Oklahoma in late September won a battle to scrap the House of Representatives’ 63- year-old tradition of secrecy surrounding discharge petitions, which are filed by representatives who want bills stuck in committee brought to the House floor for action.

House committees must hold a bill or resolution for review for 30 days. Committee members can simply ignore it and it will ultimately die in committee. However, a congressmen eager to move a measure can file a “discharge” petition and, if the petition is signed by a majority of representatives (218), the House clerk must report the measure out of the committee. In the past the House clerk named the signatories to the petition only after a majority of members signed.

In early March, Rep. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced a resolution to make discharge petitions and signatures on them public. The Rules Committee took no action, and in May he filed a discharge petition to force his resolution onto the floor.

Members of the House read the petition, memorizing portions of the list of signers. In mid-August the Wall Street Journal, using the memorized list of signers, published the names of congressmen who had not signed the petition. Soon afterward Inhofe obtained the remainder of the 218 signatures.

In late September the House voted 384 to 40 to amend House rules and to require petitions and signatures to be open. The Washington Post reported that the Rules Committee Chairman called for a roll call vote in order to “give political cover” to lawmakers who had not initially signed Inhofe’s petition for openness.

http://www.rcfp.org/news/1993/1005d.html

I emailed all of the Senator top staffers at the same time. I broke up the list into smaller blocks so my yahoo email would accept it and I was able to email this bunch just now:

beth_stewart@gsmith.senate.gov,dan_knezevic@gsmith.senate.gov,lori_prater@gsmith.senate.gov,john_richter@snowe.senate.gov,ray_krncevic@snowe.senate.gov,jake_ward@snowe.senate.gov,david_snepp@snowe.senate.gov,ginny_worrest@snowe.senate.gov,scott_hoeflich@specter.senate.gov,thomas_dower@specter.senate.gov,
seema_singh@specter.senate.gov,seema_singh@judiciary.senate.gov,george_lowe@stevens.senate.gov,karina_waller@stevens.senate.gov,aaron_saunders@stevens.senate.gov,courtney_boone@stevens.senate.gov,steven_wackowski@stevens.senate.gov,paul_collins@sununu.senate.gov,mike_o’rielly@sununu.senate.gov,
michael_o’reilly@sununu.senate.gov,barbara_riley@sununu.senate.gov,m_zabel@thune.senate.gov,matthew_zabel@thune.senate.gov,david_schwietert@thune.senate.gov,kyle_downey@thune.senate.gov,jessica_ferguson@thune.senate.gov,kyle_ruckert@vitter.senate.gov,tonya_newman@vitter.senate.gov,wendy_fleming@vitter.senate.gov,joel_digrado@vitter.senate.gov,
mac_abrams@vitter.senate.gov,phil_park@voinovich.senate.gov,george_callas@voinovich.senate.gov,doug_dziak@voinovich.senate.gov,chris_paulitz@voinovich.senate.gov,ann_loomis@warner.senate.gov,chris_yianilos@warner.senate.gov,angela_stewart@warner.senate.gov,conrad_schatte@warner.senate.gov,john_ullyot@warner.senate.gov,

tom_ingram@alexander.senate.gov,david_morgenstern@alexander.senate.gov,scot_montrey@alexander.senate.gov,lee_pitts@alexander.senate.gov,sean_conway@allard.senate.gov,charles_cogar@allard.senate.gov,laura_condeluci@allard.senate.gov,steve_wymer@allard.senate.gov,maryjane_collipriest@bennett.senate.gov,
mark_morrison@bennett.senate.gov,emily_christensen@bennett.senate.gov,brian_klippenstein@bond.senate.gov,kara_smith@bond.senate.gov,shana_marchio@bond.senate.gov,glen_chambers@brownback.senate.gov,brian_robertson@brownback.senate.gov,john_rankin@brownback.senate.gov,brian_hart@brownback.senate.gov,
blake_brickman@bunning.senate.gov,kim_dean@bunning.senate.gov,mike_reynard@bunning.senate.gov,alicia_peterson-clark@burr.senate.gov,alicia_petersonclark@burr.senate.gov,Natasha_hickman@burr.senate.gov,laura_caudell@burr.senate.gov,mark_williams@burr.senate.gov,charlie_harmon@chambliss.senate.gov,monty_philpot@chambliss.senate.gov,
annelaurie_waters@chambliss.senate.gov,Angie_Lundberg@Chambliss.Senate.gov,Lindsay_mabry@chambliss.senate.gov,jenny_manley@cochran.senate.gov,ta_hawks@cochran.senate.gov,margaret_wicker@cochran.senate.gov,margaret_mcphillips@cochran.senate.gov,Jennifer_lowe@coleman.senate.gov,lucia_lebens@coleman.senate.gov,

lorianne_moss@coleman.senate.gov,tom_steward@coleman.senate.gov,tom_stewart@coleman.senate.gov,leroy_coleman@coleman.senate.gov,steve_abbott@collins.senate.gov,Marybeth_carozza@collins.senate.gov,jane_alonso@collins.senate.gov,elissa_davidson@collins.senate.gov,jen_burita@collins.senate.gov,
kevin_kelley@collins.senate.gov,todd_womack@corker.senate.gov,paul_palagyi@corker.senate.gov,laura_lefler@corker.senate.gov,peter_olson@cornyn.senate.gov,russ_thomasson@cornyn.senate.gov,chip_roy@judiciary.senate.gov,matthew_johnson@judiciary.senate.gov,Ramona_mcgee@judiciary.senate.gov,brian_walsh@cornyn.senate.gov,
don_stewart@cornyn.senate.gov,john_drogin@cornyn.senate,mike_ware@craig.senate.gov,brooke_roberts@craig.senate.gov,travis_jones@craig.senate.gov,dan_whiting@craig.senate.gov,peter_fischer@crapo.senate.gov,pete_fischer@crapo.senate.gov,Kenneth_flanz@crapo.senate.gov,staci_lancaster@crapo.senate.gov,susan_wheeler@crapo.senate.gov,
bret_bernhardt@demint.senate.gov,matt_hoskins@demint.senate.gov,Wesley_denton@demint.senate.gov,greg_gross@dole.senate.gov,al_garesche@dole.senate.gov,ryan_meyers@dole.senate.gov,Katie_norman@dole.senate.gov,steve_bell@domenici.senate.gov,edward_hild@domenici.senate.gov,

chris_gallegos@domenici.senate.gov,tara_shaw@domenici.senate.gov,john_lopez@ensign.senate.gov,pam_thiessen@ensign.senate.gov,tory_mazzola@ensign.senate.gov,jack_finn@ensign.senate.gov,don_tatro@ensign.senate.gov,flip_mcconnaughey@enzi.senate.gov,randi_reid@enzi.senate.gov,coy_knobel@enzi.senate.gov,
elly_pickett@enzi.senate.gov,wendy_gnehm@enzi.senate.gov,richard_perry@lgraham.senate.gov,jennifer_olson@lgraham.senate.gov,jen_olson@lgraham.senate.gov,wes_hickman@lgraham.senate.gov,kevin_bishop@lgraham.senate.gov,david_young@grassley.senate.gov,kolan_davis@grassley.senate.gov,
jill_kozney@grassley.senate.gov,beth_pellett_levine@grassley.senate.gov,joel_maiola@gregg.senate.gov,nancy_perkins@gregg.senate.gov,christopher_gahan@gregg.senate.gov,erin_rath@gregg.senate.gov,louann_linehan@hagel.senate.gov,paul_kong@hagel.senate.gov,steve_taylor@hagel.senate.gov,mike_buttry@hagel.senate.gov,jordan_stark@hagel.senate.gov,patricia_knight@hatch.senate.gov,
jace_johnson@hatch.senate.gov,chris_campbell@hatch.senate.gov,bill_castle@hatch.senate.gov,peter_carr@hatch.senate.gov,marc_short@hutchison.senate.gov,matthew_acock@hutchison.senate.gov,james_christoferson@hutchison.senate.gov,jamie_loftus@hutchison.senate.gov,

geoff_embler@hutchison.senate.gov,beto_cardenas@hutchison.senate.gov,glenn_powell@inhofe.senate.gov,aloysius_hogan@inhofe.senate.gov,ryan_thompson@inhofe.senate.gov,john_bonsell@inhofe.senate.gov,heath_garrett@isakson.senate.gov,glee_smith@isakson.senate.gov,michael_quiello@isakson.senate.gov,
joan_kirchner@isakson.senate.gov,tim_glazewski@kyl.senate.gov,elizabeth_maier@kyl.senate.gov,Stephen_higgins@judiciary.senate.gov,joe_matal@judiciary.senate.gov,lucy_murfitt@kyl.senate.gov,Andrew_wilder@kyl.senate.gov,bret_boyles@lott.senate.gov,jim_sartucci@lott.senate.gov,
susan_irby@lott.senate.gov,nick_simpson@lott.senate.gov,hugh_gamble@lott.senate.gov,mitch_waldman@lott.senate.gov,marty_morris@lugar.senate.gov,chris_geeslin@lugar.senate.gov,joe_o’donnell@lugar.senate.gov,Shellie_bressler@lugar.senate.gov,andy_fisher@lugar.senate.gov,john_little@martinez.senate.gov,michael_zehr@martinez.senate.gov,ken_lundberg@martinez.senate.gov,
ann_begeman@mccain.senate.gov,eileen_mcmenamin@mccain.senate.gov,andrea_jones@mccain.senate.gov,lee_dunn@mccain.senate.gov,chris_paul@mccain.senate.gov,joe_donoghue@mccain.senate.gov,richard_fontaine@mccain.senate.gov,billy_piper@mcconnell.senate.gov,scott_raab@mcconnell.senate.gov,

robert_steurer@mcconnell.senate.gov,julie_adams@mcconnell.senate.gov,donna_murray@murkowski.senate.gov,Isaac_edwards@murkowski.senate.gov,danielle_holland@murkowski.senate.gov,kristin_pugh@murkowski.senate.gov,Jackie_cottrell@roberts.senate.gov,mike_seyfert@roberts.senate.gov,Jennifer_swenson@roberts.senate.gov,
sarah_little@roberts.senate.gov,molly_mueller@roberts.senate.gov,rick_dearborn@sessions.senate.gov,alan_hanson@sessions.senate.gov,cindy_hayden@sessions.senate.gov,charles_campbell@sessions.senate.gov,michael_brumas@sessions.senate.gov,emily_mathis@sessions.senate.gov,laura_friedel@shelby.senate.gov,
anne_caldwell@shelby.senate.gov,katie_boyd@shelby.senate.gov,john_easton@gsmith.senate.gov,rob_epplin@gsmith.senate.gov,rc_hammond@gsmith.senate.gov,beth_stewart@gsmith.senate.gov,dan_knezevic@gsmith.senate.gov,lori_prater@gsmith.senate.gov,john_richter@snowe.senate.gov,ray_krncevic@snowe.senate.gov,jake_ward@snowe.senate.gov,
david_snepp@snowe.senate.gov,ginny_worrest@snowe.senate.gov,scott_hoeflich@specter.senate.gov,thomas_dower@specter.senate.gov,seema_singh@specter.senate.gov,seema_singh@judiciary.senate.gov,george_lowe@stevens.senate.gov,karina_waller@stevens.senate.gov,

aaron_saunders@stevens.senate.gov,courtney_boone@stevens.senate.gov,steven_wackowski@stevens.senate.gov,paul_collins@sununu.senate.gov,mike_o’rielly@sununu.senate.gov,michael_o’reilly@sununu.senate.gov,barbara_riley@sununu.senate.gov,m_zabel@thune.senate.gov,matthew_zabel@thune.senate.gov,
david_schwietert@thune.senate.gov,kyle_downey@thune.senate.gov,jessica_ferguson@thune.senate.gov,kyle_ruckert@vitter.senate.gov,tonya_newman@vitter.senate.gov,wendy_fleming@vitter.senate.gov,joel_digrado@vitter.senate.gov,mac_abrams@vitter.senate.gov,phil_park@voinovich.senate.gov,george_callas@voinovich.senate.gov,
doug_dziak@voinovich.senate.gov,chris_paulitz@voinovich.senate.gov,ann_loomis@warner.senate.gov,chris_yianilos@warner.senate.gov,angela_stewart@warner.senate.gov,conrad_schatte@warner.senate.gov,john_ullyot@warner.senate.gov,

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"VOTE RINO!

We'll put a sugar coating on the 'rat cyanide pill!"