Free Republic

WASHINGTON - The Senate rejected a call Tuesday to secure the nation's borders before tackling other immigration-related concerns such as citizenship for millions of men and women in the country illegally, a victory for President Bush and supporters of a comprehensive approach to a volatile election-year issue. The vote was 55-40 against a proposal by Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga, who said that anything less than a border security-first approach amounted to "a wink and a nod one more time to those who would come here" unlawfully. Republican and Democratic supporters of the sweeping Senate bill said Isakson's approach would be...

A bill to legalize assisted suicide in Vermont has died for the second consecutive legislative session. A House committee held a hearing on the bill but dropped the issue when other lawmakers indicated its prospects were severely limited. The House Human Services Committee held a public hearing and took two days worth of testimony, but lawmakers in favor of making Vermont the second state in the nation to legalize the practice will have to wait until next year. The gavel fell on the legislative session on Saturday and lawmakers will be headed back to the state capital to deal with...