Posted on 06/22/2007 2:02:44 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The Senate's Republican leader says he is unsure whether he will vote for the immigration bill President Bush strongly supports, underscoring the measure's precarious status.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has long called for an immigration overhaul, saying the current situation is deeply flawed. And as the Senate minority leader, McConnell is central to shepherding legislation the president wants.
But in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, McConnell said he would not decide how to vote on the measure until a long series of amendments are disposed of next week.
"The bill on the merits is a mixed bag," said McConnell, who had brushed aside reporters' questions on immigration Tuesday and Wednesday. "I'm not uniformly enthusiastic about it."
"At the end of the process," he said, "we're going to have to make a call as to whether this is an improvement over the status quo. I'm not ready to make that call yet."
McConnell said it is unclear whether the bill's supporters can muster the 60 votes eventually needed to allow a final roll call on the bill in the 100-member Senate. His chief goal, he said, has been to see that all Republicans are treated fairly and allowed to be heard.
"In the end, I frankly don't know whether this thing will fly or not," McConnell said. "But we will have given it our best shot."
McConnell's ambivalence has been known to colleagues, but Thursday's comments about his misgivings were especially blunt and specific.
Also on Thursday, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said she will vote against bringing the bill back to the Senate floor because it includes "amnesty provisions" for illegal immigrants. As chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, Hutchison is the party's fourth-ranking Senate leader.
The immigration issue splits the GOP leadership much as it divides the party's base.
Many business groups, hungry to fill low-wage jobs, support the bill. Many social conservatives, backed by talk show hosts, denounce it as amnesty for illegal immigrants.
The Senate bill would tighten borders and workplace enforcement, create a new guest worker program and provide pathways to legal status for most of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the country. The House has yet to draft legislation.
The immigration debate has squeezed many politicians, but perhaps none more so than McConnell, a strong White House ally. Some see the legislation as Bush's last hope for a major domestic achievement, and McConnell himself has repeatedly said an immigration revision is one of the "big things" a divided government can achieve.
But most Senate Republicans thus far have refused to embrace the bill. And some party strategists think voters in 2008 will reward those who oppose giving illegal immigrants lawful status.
McConnell is "not riding two horses, he's trying to decide which horse to ride," Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., a bill supporter, said in an interview. "He has a very difficult role, with the caucus so badly split. He has a duty to represent the caucus."
McConnell has proceeded cautiously, demanding that Republican senators be allowed to offer about two dozen amendments when Democrats tried to cut off debate sooner. He has declined to pressure colleagues, letting other party members step out front to defend and push the measure.
Some Republican backers of the bill grumble that McConnell has been too tepid. But others defend his approach, saying browbeating colleagues on such an emotional topic might backfire.
"I think he and Trent are dealing with it about as well as leadership could," said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., referring to McConnell and Senate Republican Whip Trent Lott of Mississippi.
Lott has been more outspoken in saying the bill is flawed but needed, and in criticizing those who denounce it. Conservative talk show hosts have blistered Lott in return, while leaving McConnell largely alone.
Still, the corrosive debate seems to have taken a toll on McConnell. On Tuesday and Wednesday, he refused to take reporters' questions on immigration, a rare move in the Capitol hallways for a man whose deadpan demeanor and calm, monotone voice seldom change.
Privately, some Bush allies say they wish McConnell would openly back the immigration bill. Publicly, colleagues who support the bill have placed McConnell's comments and actions in the best possible light.
"I take him at his word," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., noting that McConnell repeatedly has said the Senate bill is preferable to the status quo. "He has been helpful in making sure it comes back" for more amendments and votes, Graham said, referring to last week's hiatus that nearly doomed the bill.
McConnell agreed that keeping the process moving, without embracing or rejecting the bill, has been his aim. Pressuring reluctant Republicans to back the president "would be exactly the wrong way to operate on a bill of this type," he said. "It would have been counterproductive."
McConnell noted that earlier this month he voted for an unsuccessful amendment that would have eliminated so-called Z visas for immigrants who lack legal status. Bill supporters called it a killer amendment, but critics call the Z visas the key to granting amnesty to illegal immigrants.
"Substantively, there are things to like and things to not like about this bill," McConnell said.
ping
I just called McConnell’s office in Louisville (for the 4th time) and they are starting to get a little snippy. As in, what business does a member of the great unwashed such as myself know about this stuff?
She said he wasn’t riding the fence, that he was listening to all the debate before deciding. I told her politely that 100 amendments wouldn’t make this bill anything other than what it was. You can call a pig fried chicken but that doesn’t make it so. I finished with “I am very disappointed with the Senator and I have a very long memory”.
Those states that allow recall elections should look into recalling the senators that are pro amnesty.
I can assure you I will NEVER vote for him again if he supports this piece of crap bill. N-E-V-E-R!!!!!
One obvious lie is that McC is “undecided”. He is decisive: never undecided. He will sell us out if he thinks he can. Surely though he is not expecting Democrat votes to replace Republicans who boycott him in 2008. It won’t happen, but he is a smart pol, and he should know that. Could it be that he is stepping down next year? The coming defeat of Governor Fletcher will decimate the GOP in KY.
hee hee... they must really be getting tired of this.. I had my third conversation with the lady in the Louisville office yesterday. She claims, he’s waiting to see the outcome of the votes on amendments.... one of which is, elimination of the z-visas.
That said... I’m starting to wonder now if this whole immigration bill was nothing more than a red herring to get us all fired up while they snuck through this ridiculous “energy” bill. What a disgrace... and, I see hardly a post on FR about it...
PS>>> I love your tagline....
I certainly am calling. FWIW.
Could also be that GWB has given “free passes” to your GA senators so they can vote against cloture. GWB may already have the 60 or 61 votes he needs without them. That may also explain Hutchison’s decision to vote against cloture.
Interesting that you should say that. Back in the days of the Bolton fiasco, I badmouthed Bush for not exerting any behind the scenes influence on Republican Senators. Some FReeper, I forget who, tried to sell the idea that Bush couldn't influence the Pubbie Senators, that he didn't have the juice. I said BS, he just doesn't want to.
Well, for a guy that was incapable of fighting for his nominee to the UN, an excellent man BTW, Bush is certainly finding the wherewithal to twist arms and pressure Senators now.
Being a simple and linear thinking member of the great unwashed as I am, I see the explanation as simple: Bush cares a lot more for illegals than he did Bolton. He also cares a lot more for illegal mexicans than he does US citizens.
This is a done deal in the Senate, always has been. No predictions regarding the House.
Politicians can't stand up against 14% Congressional ratings, 69% of the whole country wanting enforcement without amnesty, 19 to 1 call ratios against the bill, and siding with one of the most unpopular Presidents in history. Don't think you are right on this, that it is a "done deal." Think it dies if we keep making the pressure against it GROW.
I hope you are right. But I think the fix is in. And I think Bush has abandoned any pretense of giving a shite what the LEGAL citizens of this country believe and want. Speaking of shite, he and the pro amnesty crowd are doing a good number on the US Constitution. They are taking Sheryl Crow's advice, using one sheet at a time.
Scary!
I have received about 100 of these today. None have addresses, so it is not clear where they are from. This is the consistent message on the phones as well.
I emailed them back letting them know where I was from (Louisiana) and that State lines don't matter in this issue.
They are getting the message, I just hope they act on it.
O2
Yes, that is a possibility and probably the facts.I still plan on voting against them because they did not put their voters first.
The real slimeballs will vote FOR cloture, and against the bill, knowing that 51 votes will pass it anyway.
Then in their reelection campaign ads, they will say, “I voted against the amnesty bill.”
Slimeball traitors.
Marxist professor of mine used to say that lots of times the reaction is more important in politics than the original action. Apparent victory to defeat. If those old Marxists weren't evil and insane they might have done something worthwhile . . .
Exactly.
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