Posted on 06/28/2007 3:00:18 PM PDT by mdittmar
We can say with pride that the failure of this bill was not a failure of will or hard work or good intentions’
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement on the Senate floor Thursday after the Senate failed to invoke cloture on S. 1639 the Immigration Reform bill. Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery.
“Today is a day of victory and defeat. So many people have poured so much of themselves into this bill over the last weeks and months, and every one of them deserves our thanks and our respect.
“This bill tested the will, and the goodwill, of many people. But it tested some more than others. So first I want to thank those whose position did not prevail.
“Senator Specter’s knowledge of this issue is matched only by his stamina. As the ranking member, he has our admiration and he deserves our thanks.
“Senator Kyl inspired all of us, flying into his state and facing a lot of angry constituents, and the cameras week after week with optimism, patience and good cheer.
“Senator Graham was one of the generals in this effort. He always does what he thinks is right, and Americans admire him for it.
“Senator Martinez was another general. He brought intelligence and tenacity to this debate, and a story that never fails to inspire us.
“Senator Lott’s a great Whip, and a good friend. He’s been in this building more than three decades, but he’s got the energy of a freshman. He’s been a leader and friend: I thank him for it.
“Senator Salazar gave a lot of himself to this debate, a lot of time and no little criticism. Thank you.
“And finally, it’s a marvel of nature to see a man who’s calling in life is obvious to anyone who sees him at his job. Senator Kennedy is such a man. He loves his work, and his passion has inspired us.
“Now I want to thank everyone who opposed the bill.
“Senators Sessions, DeMint, and Vitter got us all to sit up and listen closely to a lot of people who thought they’d been shut out of this debate. They put the rules of this body to work. And I’d take any one of them in a firefight.
“Senator Cornyn, one of the original architects, deserves our thanks. He’s been committed to finding a solution to our nation’s immigration problem for a long time. His contributions on the interior enforcement piece of this bill were a major part of the original compromise. But when he saw it wasn’t a solution he could accept, he told us.
“Senator Chambliss told us what the farmers needed, and we listened. We thank him for his important contributions to the bill.
“Senator Isakson was the author of the trigger concept, which every one now agrees is a good idea.
“To everyone involved in the crafting of this bill, I want to thank you. This was a labor of uncommon intensity. It required will, energy, and patience. And while it strained a lot of bonds, it broke none of them. As the Majority Leader said after the final vote, ‘We’re all still friends here.’
***
“As the elected leader of my conference, I stood here in January and opened this session with a pledge. I knew contentious issues always have a better chance of being solved by divided governments, that immigration reform was within our reach, and I said we should put it in our sights.
“I also knew it was going to have to be bipartisan if we were going to get a bill at all. So everyone I’ve mentioned rolled up their sleeves and got to work. And they put together a bill that represented the best chance we had of getting to our goal.
“But it touched a nerve, and the shock of it shot right through the Senate. It lit up the switchboards here for weeks, and ignited a debate that strained our normal alliances here and at home in our states.
“I heard from a lot of Kentuckians. Thousands of smart, well-informed people called my offices to talk about this bill. They didn’t like the idea of someone being rewarded for a crime, or the impact that this would have on a society whose first rule is the Rule of Law. They didn’t trust the government to suddenly get serious about border control after neglecting it for two decades. And I don’t blame them. I worried about all that too. And to every one of them, I say today: ‘Your voice was heard.’
“A lot of good people came to my office. They argued for positions as diverse as the country itself. They explained their views patiently and with passion. I want to thank them too for informing my thinking and for helping to shape this extraordinary debate.
“My goal from the start has been to move the conference forward, to facilitate debate, to ensure that the minority’s voice was heard to the maximum extent possible. I had hoped there would be a way forward. And as the divisions between supporters and opponents widened, the only way forward, to my mind, was to ensure a fair process. This was the only way to be sure we could improve the status quo, which all of us agreed was indefensible. If every voice was heard, we could be confident our votes reflected the best this body could do.
“I had hoped for a bipartisan accomplishment, and what we got was a bipartisan defeat. The American people made their voices heard, the Senate worked its will, and in the end it was clear that the bill that was crafted did not have the support of the people of Kentucky, it did not have the support of most Americans, it did not have the support of my conference, and it did not have enough support in the Democratic conference, a third of which opposed it.
“This isn’t a day to celebrate. We don’t celebrate when a pressing issue stays unresolved. But we can be confident that we will find a solution to the problems that we’ve tried to address here. Many people have made great personal sacrifices to work on a solution to our broken immigration system. A lot of them exposed themselves to ridicule and contempt.
“And so we can say with pride that the failure of this bill was not a failure of will or hard work or good intentions. Martin Luther King once said that ‘human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men.’ And we can be sure that many good people will step forward again to offer their intelligence, understanding, and their ‘tireless efforts’ when the time comes to face this issue again.
“That time wasn’t now. It wasn’t the people’s will. And they were heard.”
Alabama has sent a really good one to the Senate in the person of Jeff Sessions.
He’s three times the representative/legislator that Trent “Eunuch” Lott wishes he could be.
Semper Fi,
That makes two of us...
Self serving babble speak from a guy who went AWOL
The upshot is a ton more condescension, and blah blah. And what the he!! is this “will of the Senate” thing????
If I hear Reid, McConnell, and the rest of the “Masters of the Universe,” say how hard they worked, I will SCREAM! Promise! LOL!
I’ll have to say this is a barf alert. McConnell has said some things I don’t like from time to time, but I don’t recall ever hearing a flowery “Let’s all love each other now that it is over” type speech from him. Being put into leadership positions seems to have a negative effect. This is comical to read.
Americans admire Graham? You get me sick Mcconnell, This is an American traitor. Each and every one of these traitors will pay the price come election time! HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE THE AMERICAN VOTER! Get your shopping carts and cardboard boxes ready boys your going to be cold this winter!
I have never seen people in denial like this. It’s like we don’t exist.
???? He states clearly, in the midst of the all the flowery (to the point of disturbing) prose for everybody and anybody, the will of the people prevailed on their voice was heard.
The way the game is played is that you vote "yes" if they need your vote, and then when it becomes clear that it's failing, you become a "no." That's why there were so many "no's" by the end. But it means you were ready to go along when it really counted. What's extraordinary about what Brownback did is if that's the game you're playing you hang back and see how everyone else is voting before committing yourself. Also, as a Republican senator, you should have at least some vague idea of which way the tide of your colleagues is running and not get yourself in this kind of position.Now, if the campaign's (hard-to-believe-verging-on-laughable) explanation is true that this was a deliberate strategy on his part to vote first "yes" and then "no," well, then, he's badly in need of better political advice and you have to question his judgment for going along with it. Did he have no idea how it would play?
When I was e-mailing with a Senate source opposed to this bill going through potential votes last night, he said something like, "I hope Brownback just doesn't show up," given how unreliable he was on this vote. I bet Brownback now wishes the same thing.
Yes, our will was heard, but will it be carried out? We’ve got to keep the heat on.
Hey Mitch, thanks for making it crystal clear that you sided with the open borders bigots and against the American people. You will rue this day.
You are very wrong senator. It broke the bond between the people and congress, never again will we look at those we sent to Washington the same way. The betrayal was almost complete, we should not have had to scream at the top of our lungs to be heard. It almost passed, it didn't but it was close. The betrayal will never be forgotten.
You’re absolutely right. If Jess Sessions was the Republican leader instead of McConnell we could sleep better at night. Sessions was on C-SPAN this morning and people were calling in from all over the country praising him.
Louisiana’s Vitter is one of the best debaters in the Senate and doesn’t take guff off of anybody, especially Dims.
I meant Jeff, not Jess - long day.
“And finally, it’s a freak of nature to see a man who’s calling in life is unclear to anyone who sees him at his job. Senator Kennedy is such a man. He loves his work and liquor. His belching has inspired us.
I’m still waiting to find out from the good Senator what exactly the problem standing in the way of a fence and effective border control REALLY is so we can help him out....
Astounding.
If they were listening to “the people” this immigration proposal, as written, would never have existed!
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, and so on, and so forth.
Is there another body in the world that does mutual praise better than the US Senate?
I want to vote for someone who avoids this bull$h|+ like the plague.
Outstanding FReeper comments! BUMP!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.