Posted on 06/05/2006 4:51:21 PM PDT by Spiff
House Republicans vs. Senator Frist’s amnesty plan.
By Rep. Tom Tancredo
The United States Congress stands at a historic crossroads on immigration policy. Two roads diverge. Will the nation get another amnesty program or will it get secure borders to halt illegal entry into our country? House Republicans must choose, because they can’t have both.
The recently passed Senate bill giving amnesty to 12-15 million illegal aliens presents a challenge to House Republicans, but it also presents an opportunity. The House should respond with a strong reaffirmation of the enforcement-first strategy for border control and immigration-law enforcement, an approach strongly favored by a large majority of the American people. If House Republicans abandon that path, they will invite the desertion of their conservative base and the certain loss of the House in the November elections.
Senate Democrats voted 38 to 4 for the amnesty bill, while a majority of Senate Republicans rejected it. The amnesty bill is clearly a Democrat bill that passed with Republican support, thanks to Sen. Frist’s machinations. House Republicans must refuse to drink Bill Frist’s Kool Aid concoction—not even a tiny spoonful labeled “amnesty lite.”
Last December, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4437, a bill that embodies the enforcement-first strategy for border control and immigration enforcement. The Senate bill takes the exact opposite approach. The two bills are polar opposites not only in text but also in spirit and in purpose. For this reason it is impractical and delusional to try to marry one to the other. Despite the advances of modern science, we do not yet have the capacity to marry a snake to a hawk and produce an eagle.
The crux of the problem is that in the deceptively packaged Senate bill, border control is there as a promise but amnesty is guaranteed, immediate, and irreversible. That is the formula that failed in the 1986 amnesty program, and the House must not buy that pig-in-a-poke again. In such omnibus plans, enforcement can be delayed, diluted, and sabotaged in numerous ways. That is why “enforcement first” is not a slogan—it is an urgent necessity.
The American people expect more from the “People’s House” than joining the Senate’s sellout to the cheap-labor lobby and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. If House Republicans do not answer that call to duty, we will deserve neither our citizens’ respect nor their votes.
There is one sure way to derail the Senate’s amnesty bill: The House Republican leadership should tell the Senate we will not go to conference on the Senate bill. The House should simply challenge the Senate to act on H.R. 4437. Until the Senate sends the House an enforcement-only bill, we have nothing to conference about.
A few Republicans in the House have called for compromise by suggesting clever plans that amount to “amnesty lite.” Down that path lies disaster because “enforcement first” cannot be compromised: Either Congress secures the borders before considering new guest-worker plans or we create a guest-worker program on the mere promise of border security. Genuine enforcement cannot be a mere part of a “comprehensive bill,” it must precede any other reform. House Republicans who break ranks with HR 4437 are choosing a path of certain catastrophe—for the nation in the long run and for our party in November.
If House Republicans take the enforcement first platform to the American people in November, they can win. There is no advantage whatsoever for Republicans in agreeing to write a bad bill in conference on the premise that even a bad bill is better than no bill at all. That is the argument we hear from the White House and it is sheer nonsense. The president does not have to face the voters in November, we do. The president lost all credibility on immigration reform in March 2005 when he called the Minutemen “vigilantes” with Vicente Fox standing at his side. It is time for the president to put his attack dogs on a short leash and let House Republicans chart their own course.
Fate has given the House of Representatives the task of rescuing our national sovereignty and our children’s futures from the Senate’s folly. There are signs we may be up to the challenge, but if we are not, neither history nor the voters will forgive us.
—Rep. Tom Tancredo represents Colorado’s 6th district and is chairman of the 97-member Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus.
The Dems would love that about as much as we would like to see them nominate Boxer.
Why do you think a majority of the country is against the war? Sure the MSM is grotesquely biased but Bush shares a good portion of the blame. He's no Reagan. His communication team sucks and his second term (Harriet Miers, Dubai, Katrina, SS reform, immigration "deform") makes the keystone kops look professional.
Think how far the white house has fallen since November 2004. Bush and his team are largely to blame. I'm not happy about it but there is no point in denying reality.
Or Conyer
Yep he is no Reagan. He hasn't ran from the Middle east yet.
Apparently you've never read it. Pence's bill takes care of the borders & addresses the "what do we do with the 12-20 million illegals here?" problem.
I am very familiar with it. His solution is to send them out a week to Ellis Island centers and then bring them back for eventual citizenship.
"Under his[Pence] proposal, illegal immigrants would be required to leave the country to get a guest worker visa. They would be processed through placement centers, or what he called "Ellis Island centers," run by private U.S. firms.
Pence said the process could be completed within a week, causing minimal disruption to the immigrants and their employers. Applicants would have to go through background checks. Visas for the program would be renewable three times, for a total of six years, but only if applicants passed an English proficiency test after the first two years.
"After the third term, they have to apply for permanent legal residence or leave," said Matt Lloyd, a spokesman for Pence.
But the plan met immediate resistance from Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), leader of House Republicans who oppose moves toward legalizing undocumented immigrants.
"Mike Pence is making the same mistakes that the president has — using the straw man of mass deportations and redefining amnesty to suit his interests," Tancredo said. He added that he was baffled by Pence's shift from an enforcement-only position
Only Nixon Could Go to China, and Only Pence Could Sell Amnesty to the House
Well he was seating US Senator from the same State that was also a Republican. I mean for pure Party unity you have to do those things. Plus Spectre supported him in his reelection in 2000 so it was the proper thing to do imho
Mike Pence because of his thinking outside the box has gained some respect from me. He showed some guts there and if he throws his weight behind his proposal I think I might start paying more attention to him
I ask them. We have allowed Hispanics into our formerly all Germanic heritage family for over thirty years now. It's only in the last two years we've opened up to the Irish and Israeli's. So it's simple. You ask them or engage in conversation.
Of course one needs to be around Hispanic surnamed people to do that. But, then on the West side of San Antonio, and almost everywhere else in San Antonio one can find someone with a Hispanic surname if they try hard enough.
Remember my qualifier was, the ones I meet.
That's a howler. Reagan was revitalizing our moribund economy and destroying the Soviet Empire. But Reagan's a wimp compared to the omniscient W. Your myopic loyalty to all things W suggest a certain kinship. Is that you Barbera (Bush)?
That's fine. We all have our own experiences that shape our opinions one way or the other. Just remember though that Humans are by nature tribal and when they perceive , rightly or wrongly, people like themselves being mistreated they may take it personally.
I wouldn't bet on it. Politicians count heavily on the forgetfulness of the American public, as well as the ignorance and apathy.
FReepers are a special breed; we live in our own small highly-informed world, unlike the ill-informed apolitical majority in this country.
With a good ad man, Frist could go far. So could McCain. The vast majority of people in this world don't care about truth and politicians dam* well know it. He's not finished until the PTB say so.
I will say this there is no doubt that Hispanic Americans are against illegal immigration. The problem is that there is disagreement about how to do it. Most Hispanic Republican groups have come out for the Presidents plan and also tough border enforcement. The Republican Hispanic assembly etc.
However, I am getting a feeling from many Hispanic Republicans that they are getting a tad tired of not having their views heard. Including the head of the Texas Hispanic Assembly chapter that in comments he has made over the weekend, after he and others attended the Texas Republican Convention. This is a guy that supports getting rid of Birth Right Citizenship I believe and is no radical. Of course I think you were there and can give greater insight into that perhaps than what I read in the Sat and Sun Texas media.
Believe it or not the "architect" is still correct. The country is center right. A compromised bill must pass to satisfy the majority. Do you have a better plan to satisfy the whole country?
That makes a great campaign slogan.
*Vote for Tancredo, I'm not being sarcastic!*
LMAO
IMHO...Bush has been left kissing dirt by the party extremists. Now he and the admin are just listening to the real majority of the American people. In essence, being a true father of the nation as a whole.
Your post is incontrovertible evidence that Bushbotism is a form of dementia.
How's it feel to slam the majority of Americans who happen to be center right as Bush is? Must feel good way out there in the far-out right field waiting for another pop fly for your precious 2004 vote.
Just how many times does Bush have to kiss your arse to make you happy? You people are insatiable.
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