Hostettler/Gallegly amendment passes House (Illegal Alien I.D. Alert)

[moehoward]

This is good news. Thanks to all who stepped up.

"The Hostettler/Gallegly amendment to H.R. 1950 passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a 226-198 vote late this afternoon. It would greatly disrupt the efforts of foreign governments to help illegal aliens in this country through special ID cards if the Senate approves and the President signs the bill with this amendment. Mexico's matricula consular cards for Mexicans living illegally in the United States are the most notable example.
Frankly, when we heard about this amendment last night, none of us at NumbersUSA thought there was much chance of it passing. But we campaigned like crazy the next 18 hours because "you just never can tell." Plus, we knew that the House Leadership would be watching the vote to guage the strength of our movement.
I think everybody involved with this effort -- sponsors, other Members of Congress, staffers -- was surprised by the ease of passage of this amendment because it came from outside Leadership, from outside the International Relations Committee which created the bill and WAS OPPOSED VIGOROUSLY ALL DAY BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT."
(except of letter from Roy Beck, http://www.NumbersUSA.com)

[Dan from Michigan]

Usually anything with the name John Hostettler attached to it is good.

They don't get much better.

[Catspaw]

Getting an amendment through the House is one thing. But will it get through the Senate and Compromise Committee?

[AAABEST]

Gee thanks for the bucket of cold water.

[moehoward]

Since the state department is fighting it so hard, it could be quite a hair-ball to choke down.

[Catspaw]

Gee thanks for the bucket of cold water.

Sorry. I was being a realist. I've been burned too often, thinking what was passed in the House actually gets though the rest of the process and signed into law.

[George W. Bush]

Hostettler bump.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

ping

[AAABEST]

Your concerns are well founded. Now that I think about it, I'd be surprised if it gets out of the Senate. We have a contingient over there that will probably find a way to punt it.

[SoFarRight]

I'd be surprised if it gets out of the Senate.

Since the WH will not offer an opinion, then it would be a safe bet GW will suddenly find that missing Veto Pen he's been looking for since day one. This will never see the light of day!

SFR

[gubamyster]

ping

[JustAnAmerican]

What we need to do, to the "Anti-American" crowd who voted against America and Americans is make a little sign up along the lines of, (insert name here), just voted to put Americans and their jobs, second in line behind Illegal Aliens. And stand in front of said "Anti-American's" home and or office with said sign. We need to let the average person know how these traitors are ruining America.

[TheSpottedOwl]

Thanks for the ping, gub!

Great article Moe. Let's hope it goes through all the way.

[janetgreen]

These traitors don't care, because they, along with their families living in their ivory towers don't have to put up with the mess of illegal immigration. They are so far out of touch with the American people that it's scary.

[Area51]

"I think everybody involved with this effort -- sponsors, other Members of Congress, staffers -- was surprised by the ease of passage of this amendment because it came from outside Leadership, from outside the International Relations Committee which created the bill and WAS OPPOSED VIGOROUSLY ALL DAY BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT."

I really really hope that is a Prestitute's imagination and not the true facts of the actions of the Bush Administration.

[Oatka]

From http://www.house.gov/rules/108rule1950.htm

"17. Hostettler/Gallegly:
Provides the Secretary of State with the authority to regulate the issuance of consular identification cards by foreign missions in the United States. Directs the Secretary of State to issue regulations requiring foreign missions to: issue consular identification cards only to bona fide nations of the issuing country; maintain accurate records of all such cards issued; require recipients of such cards to notify the mission of address changes; notify the Secretary of each such card issued in the United States, including the recipient’s name and address; and make records of such cards issued available for audit and review by the State Department at the Secretary’s request. Where the Secretary determines that a foreign mission’s violation of the aforementioned regulations potentially threatens the security of the United States or facilities criminal or fraudulent acts, directs Secretary to notify the government of the mission to suspend issuance of consular cards until compliance with the regulations is established. If the foreign mission fails to suspend issuance in response to such notice, directs Secretary to stop issuing non-immigrant and/or immigrant visa to nationals of the country until Secretary determines mission is in compliance with its regulations."

Anybody know where we can find out how our reps voted?

[traditionalist]

If it gets out of the Senate, Bush would have to veto the whole bill since he does not have a line-item veto. Remember, this illegal alein id thing is just an amendment to a bill. If the bill it's attached to is important enough, Bush just might hold his nose and sign it rather than veto the whole bill because of one amendement he does not like.

The trick is getting this amendement on an important bill. Does anyone know what the bill is?

[traditionalist]

It turns out it is an appropriations bill. I seriously doubt the president would veto it if it contained the amendement. Thus the trick will be to get it through the Senate. Once that's done, it's a shoe-in.

[moehoward]

"Anybody know where we can find out how our reps voted?"

Excellant question. Here's the break down....

List of 23 Democrats who broke with their party and courageously stood against illegal immigration (are any of these in your area? call to thank them)
======================================================
Alexander (LA)
Berry (AR)
Carson (OK)
Costello (IL)
Cramer (AL)
Davis (TN)
DeFazio (OR)
Gordon (TN)
Hall (TX)
Hill (IN)
Holden (PA)
Lipinski (IL)
Lucas (KY)
Lynch (MA)
Marshall (GA)
Matheson (UT)
McIntyre (NC)
Peterson (MN)
Ross (AR)
Skelton (MO)
Stenholm (TX)
Tanner (TN)
Taylor (MS)
These are really courageous Members. If you are worked up and ready to do some more work tomorrow, why don't you phone the ones that are from your state and tell their staffs how proud you are of them.
Get their phone numbers at:
http://www.numbersusa.com/congressinfo/
Some have told our lobbyists that they feel like they went out on a limb and will get blasted back home for their vote. It is up to you to make sure that these Democrats get more "warming rays" of support that blasts of criticism. Please let us know if you see any media sign of criticism of these Democrats.
There actually are several Democrats who have worked with us on other things who aren't on the Yea list here. So the list of potential ally Democrats is larger than even these 23.
Those who think that we might somehow get our immigration house in order entirely with Republican votes have not counted the votes very well. There will always be enough Republicans who are totally committed to helping Robber Barons get cheap foreign labor and hold down the wages of Americans to keep immigration reforms from going through -- unless a significant part of the Democratic Party reflects the will of its citizen-members and also votes for the reforms.
To win on the Norwood bill, we will need most if not all of these 23 Democrats. So those of you who live in their states -- particularly if you are Democrats -- need to do all you can to nurture this kind of civic leadership for the future.
Besides giving these Democrats as much support as you can, study them and raise them as examples for other Democrats in your part of the state. Suggest to those other Democrats that they join the 23 in this list.
Interestingly, the list includes Rep. Holden (D-PA) the Blue Dog Democrat who defeated House immigration chairman Rep. Gekas (R-PA) last fall when re-districting threw the two into the same district. Gekas in his single term as chairman had introduced a fantastic SAFER Act to greatly reduce immigration. So his defeat might have been interpreted as a negative sign about constituents of that district.
However, there was Gekas' conqueror today voting on our side of the immigration issue. The fact is that Mr. Holden is in a tight, swing district. Any Democrat in his position ought to be voting with us. I have told many Democrats in districts like that repeatedly that any Democrat in a swing district is politically crazy not to be a strong advocate for immigration reductions because that is the way to win swing votes and stay in office.
Also, you will notice that the Democrats voting with us are from all over the country, including Massachusetts.
=====================================================
5. INFO---List of 21 Republicans who apparently have so little commitment to stopping illegal immigration that they were willing to vote against all of their party leaders and against 90% of the members of their party.
======================================================
Biggert (IL)
Bono (CA)
Davis (VA)
Diaz-Balart (FL)
Dias-Balart (FL)
Dreier (CA)
Ehlers (MI)
Gillmore (OH)
Hensarling (TX)
Kolbe (AZ)
Leach (IA)
Lewis (CA)
Linder (GA)
Ose (CA)
Pearce (NM)
Porter (IL)
Pryce (OH)
Renzi (AZ)
Ros-Lehtinen (FL)
Smith (NJ)
Weller (IL)
This is the list of Republicans who potentially stand in the way of this country finally getting a handle on illegal immigration. Some of them may have some reasonable justifications for their vote today. We should not write most of them off (although a few of them are probably hopelessly committed to open borders).
If you are in the states of any of these, perhaps you can find ways to talk with their offices and help us discover how to bring them around on something like the Norwood bill.
You can figure out which Republicans voted with most other Republicans for the reform amendment and which Democrats voted with most other Democrats against the reform amendment. Just know that these 11 did not vote:
NOT VOTING
Berkley (NV) D
Ferguson (NJ) R
Gephardt (MO) D
Hastert (IL) R
Hayworth (AZ) R
Janklow (SD) R
Jefferson (LA) D
Millender-McDonald (CA) D
Smith (WA) D
Spratt (SC) D
Weldon (FL) R

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

If this matrícula crap isn´t stopped, other countries are going to do the same thing with their own citizens. Just watch.