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.
Good grief. The man is political grandstander. I remember how he used Louisiana to get his 15 minutes of fame last year on the issue. He was the Spokesman for a group of 15 that said Louisiana is so corrupt that no Federal money should come down here after the hurricane. Well he made the rounds of TV news and after that silence. He didnt propose any solution and to my knowledge didnt work much with our Republican Majority Congressional delegation. So people from Slidell to Lake Charles were suffering and we had to hear him make political points while major suffering was going on. We were still trying to find the dead and missing relatives for goodness sake.
That showed me Tancredo's character right there.
And this qualifies you for drama queen of the week. The bill has fleas and needs a serious tweaking but what do you expect from Kennedy & company?
Hey, Deacon, you've got it bass ackwards as usual. It is the Senate that is being the obstacle to a border security bill. It is the Senate that is holding up reform this year by insisting upon a bill that only the most liberal open borders types can support.
I think there were worse bills. The Alien and Sediation act or perhaps the fugitive Slave act comes to mind right off the top of my head. also the legislation to imprison and fund Prison camps For a bunch of Japanesse Americans wasnt its finest hour.
Again, at this point the Senate Bill and all its extras is not the problem. Heck the House bill with its major problems and short sighted attitude is not the issue really. Its all conference now. What comes out of there wont look like either sides bill to a degree
"That's a howler."
Yeah, my favorite FROBL rebuttal is where they slash Reagan to bits with their long knives, peeing on the grave of the greatest president of the last half-century. That really shows us how great Dubya is, doesn't it? If only they could dig up Washington and take a dump in his coffin so they could get Dubya crowned king.
I wish someone can define open borders to me. Open borders to me means all the Mexicans in Mexico can just drive over and work here live here if they want. I havent seen a proposal that says that
Knock off the deacon crap.
Argue your point on its own merit.
So what is your stance on illegal alien law breakers?
No matter how often you repeat that lie, it still doesn't make it true.
If it were true, then the most conservative one third of the Republicans in Congress would not have joined and would not still continue membership in the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus which was founded and is chaired by conservative Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo. The most conservative one third of the Republicans in Congress respects Rep. Tom Tancredo and his principled leadership on this issue. Why can't you? They know him far better than you do and they understand the political risks of associating with him. They take that risk and willingly join and remain members of his excellent caucus. Why are you again siding AGAINST conservative Republicans along with one of the most principled conservative Republicans in Congress? Have you forgotten that this is a CONSERVATIVE web forum which traditionally supports conservative Republicans? Why do you continue to abuse this forum and pollute any thread that mentions conservative Republican Tom Tancredo with your ad hominem attacks against him and his conservative principles and ideas? Maybe you have this forum confused with www.RINOrepublic.com or something.
Don't get logical..it's not in the Tancredo talking points.
NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN.
Sorry. No dice. Americans want ENFORCEMENT OF EXISTING LAW FIRST. THEN we can indulge in all the talk you want.
Excellent Comments
The House passed their border security bill first. It is the Senate that is being the obstacle by passing an amnesty bill which is a non-starter. We have two equal houses in our Congress. The Senate does not tell the House what to do. The House passed what the people widely support. The Senate passed crap. The Senate needs to cut the crap and seriously consider the House bill. Any bill which includes any form of amnesty is already a non-starter and the Senate knew that. The Senate is the obstacle. Not the conservatives in the Senate, mind you, but the Clinton/Kennedy/McCain/Specter wing of the Senate. You know, the enemies of conservatives and of Free Republic. Yes, that part of the Senate. So, why are you kissing their butts, Deacon?
What would you call the illegal invasion of 12 - 20 million ILLEGALS, if not an open border policy?
They walk across or get transported.
Come on, don't be totally silly.
Tell me, specifically, what will Tancredo gain? Please use factual information from the FEC reporting of his campaign finances and his PAC in order to answer this question. I've seen the databases. Have you? Or are you making false accusations and smears against a principled, conservative Republican who enjoys a 100% "Best and Brightest" rating from the American Conservative Union as well has extremely high scores from other conservative groups?
An outcome I and 70% of America would be happy with, if compromise would enact portions of the Senate disasterpiece into Law. If GOP members of the House can sandbag this thing by refusing to compromise, it WILL, in fact, be viewed as a victory for the GOP in the House.
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