Posted on 12/10/2010 7:49:08 PM PST by freespirited
Outgoing Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) said Friday he's privately discussed the prospect that Republicans would pursue their own version of the DREAM Act next year.
Bennett said he would vote for the immigration legislation, which gives immigrants who were illegally brought to the U.S. as children a conditional pathway to citizenship, if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) brought it to the floor under the right conditions.
If that fails, the outgoing senator said, Republicans have privately discussed the prospects of writing and passing a version of the DREAM Act that could make its way through Congress.
"Now, I know a lot of my colleagues are not happy to vote for it, and I don't think the votes ... are there to pass it in this Congress," Bennett said in his final conference call with Utah reporters. "And as I've talked, particularly to my Republican friends, I've said we really need to do this. Their reaction has been to me, privately, 'You're right. We do really need to do it.'"
Democrats are hoping to bring up the House-passed version of the DREAM Act for a vote in the Senate in the closing days of the lame-duck Congress. Bennett has said he would vote for a standalone version of the bill but not for one that is wedded to many other provisions he doesn't prefer.
But time is running out on the Senate's legislative calendar, especially as Republicans have demanded that taxes be handled before any other issue. Because no final deal has been made, it might be difficult for Democrats to pass the legislation.
"We don't like the specifics coming out of the House ... but we agree that, once the Republicans control the House, the Republicans have the responsibility to write a bill that we would vote for and send it over," Bennett said of his conversation with fellow Republicans.
"And we, at least the Republican senators I've talked to, we think that if we get a DREAM Act worded the way we like, we will vote for it, and we want to do it early next year," he added. "It's my hope — I don't expect it — but it's my hope that we can do it this year. If not, it's my hope a little bit stronger that it can be taken care of next year."
Such a move could anger conservatives if the legislation doesn't substantially differ from the Democratic-led legislation this term. Conservative activists were riled by President George W. Bush's push for comprehensive immigration reform in 2007, which — like the DREAM Act — they called an "amnesty" bill.
Republican lawmakers' tensions with the base contributed to the kind of anger in the party base that led to primary challenges to Republican incumbents this cycle. One such primary ended Bennett's career, after Sen.-elect Mike Lee beat out Bennett for the Republican Senate nomination in Utah earlier this year.
Amnesty = 3rd party by 2012.
Utah better be keeping notes on these guy.
Reminds me of Pauline Kael's famous reaction to Nixon's landslide victory in 1972...
"How can that be? No one I know voted for Nixon!"
This is why he is headed back to Utah and Orrin Hatch is going to join him.
They will break it before the New Year. They are after all...Republicans.
I’d buy that...Just substitute the word “deportation” where appropriate throught the law...For example: “immediate deportation” in place of “obtain temporary residency for a six year period”...
Do you think this might be for “young america citizens” Im sickened by these bastards
Obviously you are BLIND to the more expensive social costs which include DISPLACEMENT OF AMERICANS FROM THE LABOR MARKET.
Currently we have about 20 million Americans who are unemployed or underemployed.
They deserve the jobs employers have illegally given to foreign nationals.
And BTW, “illegals” are “not citizens”.
I completely agree with you. It is one thing to allow some to stay, quite another to make them citizens. There is absolutely no justification to provide a “path to citizenship” for people who have violated our laws. Unless, of course, you’re a RAT politician trying to pad your numbers.
After the Tea Party arrives in January, we will be safe for the next 2 years.
All Tea Party groups must organize oversight committees to ensure that all RATs and RINOS are identified for removal at the ballot box in 2012. Notify the Congress that they will be watched and all their actions reported to the American people. We must vote out the corrupt, power-hungry thugs before we’re bankrupt and no longer a free nation. Newly elected politicians, that do not live up to their campaign pledges, are to be voted out in 2012. 2012 starts now.
Protect our borders and support our American workers!
No Amnesty ~ Not Now ~ Not Ever!
This birdbrain needs to get off his perch and quit you know what all over the people. How stupid can anyone be?
“Wrong on all counts. We the People are forced via high taxation to subsidize that “cheap labor.” That’s called privatizing the profits and socializing the costs. Tyranny.”
1) The US does not increase taxes to offset expenditures. Thus our ridiculous deficit. So there is no high taxation associated with illegals.
2) If you are worried about expenditures that are bankrupting our economy, Social Security, Medicare, and Defense absolutely dwarf any costs associated with illegal immigrants. While illegal immigrant costs are not insignificant, they are trivial when compared to the big three.
3) The comment about privatizing profits and socializing risks - a bit of a stretch...
Near Slaves???
-People who work for an agreed wage
-Free to not work
-Free to quit
-Free to leave
That is a strange definition of ‘near slaves’.
As to the job costs, most of the illegal immigrants are involved in ‘menial labor’ jobs. The unemployed get much better pay through unemployment benefits than through taking these jobs. You should be much more upset with the federal government enabling people to live off the government rather than taking ‘menial jobs’.
Laura Ingram was talking about this today on Fox and she said the GOP had better think twice about this because there will be hell to pay and that mean money support.
Undocumented students devastated after U.S. Senate blocks DREAM Act
A controversial bill that would have granted legal status to hundreds of thousands of undocumented students was blocked once again in the Senate Saturday.
The 55-41 vote in of the so-called DREAM Act was five votes shy of moving onto the Senate floor, effectively killing its chances of passing this year.
Immigration activists and undocumented students, some of whom drove overnight from Miami to Washington, reacted with frustration on hearing the final vote. Dozens gathered at Yambo Restaurant in Little Havana to watch the procedural vote on C-SPAN.
“I don’t get it. This is disappointing, but we have to keep fighting,” said 22-year-old Adrián Escarate, who was 3 when his family immigrated illegally to the U.S. from Chile. “I don’t know Chile. The only country I know is this one.”
measure earlier this month, 216 to 198.
Senate leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said in a press conference after the vote that the Republican Party “will pay for this’’ in 2012 by losing votes in the Hispanic community.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/18/1979676/undocumented-students-devastated.html#ixzz18WY6lP7k
Ooooooooooooooooh I am so scared Republican Party “will pay for this’’
Why don’t they arrest the parents of these kids for bringing them here in the country illegally, they made them part of an Criminal act.I am sure they see how their parents behave and duck the law when approached about certain things.This is just a ploy to get people to have sympathy for law breakers. How is this Dream act fair to those millions of people who have applied for citizenship and are doing all the right things waiting for their turn to enter this country? These kids have already had the benefits of citizenshp merely by being given an education and other opportunities that living in the US provides. It simply is NOT fair to US citizens for these parents of these children to rip off this country by taking what is not legally theirs. I am not heartless, but when our own citizens cannot get health care or education assistance, it is time to send these people back to their own country. This country is way to careless with its security and we will AGAIN reap the results in some horrific way one of these days. It is time for everyone to have identification and documention with them every time they are out in public. That may seem extreme but this is a much different world than it was before 911. The immigration bill now in existence was enacted to prevent the kind of problems we have now but the feds did not enforce it so what will this new Dream Act do? Not a thing, it will make all these illegals citizens and a new group of illegals will invade the US wishing to get amnesty also.
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