Senate majority leader confident immigration reform will be approved

AP ^ | January 7, 2004

[sarcasm]

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Wednesday he was confident U.S. President George W. Bush's immigration reform legislation would be approved by Congress.

Bush called for a major overhaul of America's immigration system Wednesday. The proposal would grant temporary legal status to millions of undocumented workers in the United States.

[novacation]

It's stealth amnesty.They won't leave after the three years. They already don't care about immigration laws.It stinks that Jorge Arbusto is too spineless to enforce the laws of the country.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Oops, make that: Have you seen anything from Tom DeLay on this, or know his position?

[richtig_faust]

To put it in the words of my father "we're f**ked" .....

[Shermy]

What's up with Bill these days? No more post-presidency victory touring?

[COEXERJ145]

From another article.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who will have a lot of say in what type of bill comes to the House floor for a vote, said guest worker programs can curb illegal immigration, grow the economy, provide homeland security and create jobs.

But he differed with the president on who should participate.

"I applaud the president for addressing this complex and important issue but I have sincere reservations about allowing illegal immigrants into a U.S. guest worker program, because it has the potential to reward illegal behavior and I am skeptical that it constitutes sound public policy," said DeLay, R-Sugar Land.

[AAABEST]

I would vote for him, he's one of the handful of dems that I like. He's infinitely more conservative and honorable than Bush.

He, Zell Miller and Trafficant (goofy as he is) are more in touch with us than most Republicans.

[Dog Gone]

No, I haven't heard a thing from DeLay on this yet. My guess is that he'll support legislation which gets the illegal population registered and documented, but craft a tough bill which gets any visa-holder kicked out of the country for even committing a misdemeanor.

Bush didn't come up with this policy in a vaccuum. DeLay knew about it in advance, I'm sure. But DeLay is not afraid to come up with a different solution than the President, and getting this particular proposal through Congress is going to be tough.

The main concern I have is that there could be significant defections on the GOP side, meaning significant Democrats would have to support it in order for it to pass. That gives the Democrats the leverage to make it far more friendly to Mexicans than the President proposed.

It's still awfully early to handicap what will happen. There's no bill to look at yet.

[VU4G10]

Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, praised Bush for opening the debate and said that a new immigration policy should "extend a welcoming hand to those whose presence will benefit our nation and our economy."

[Who dat?]

We'll see. The House appears a lot less receptive to the idea than the more left leaning Senate.

Doesn’t matter. They are much more forgiving than I am. I sat out GHWB. I sat out Dole. I’ll sit out GWB. The beatings will continue until morale improves… or something along those lines. At any rate, take a dry-run through the backup plan…

It won’t be the end of the world in any case, IMO.

[GeronL]

The Republican Party is no longer the conservative party, the GOP treats conservatives the same way the Demons treat blacks.

[AAABEST]

Having seen anything from Tom DeLay on this, or know his position?

[GeronL]

Your right, the GOP just takes conservative votes for granted.... didn't you hear Sean Hannity?? "who else ya gonna for ?? HUH??"

[Dog Gone]

I was at work today and didn't hear the speech. I've only read news reports of it.

From what I've read, nothing in the proposal will INCREASE illegal immigration, and it's like to decrease it. At a minimum, we'll know who is here, and we'll greatly eliminate the underground economy.

Now, I'm not sure why that's a bad thing.

[GeronL]

tHEY HAVE ABSOLUTELY no INTENTION of actually enforceing our borders. never. Thats just to get some support.

scumbags!!!

[WhiteGuy]

Thanks for selling us out Bill!

[KantianBurke]

Aww. You believe that tripe. How cute!

[JoeGar]

The only folks I've heard say this is a good idea are some Senators and the Prez. They must be on the take.

[GeronL]

I won't be voting either. I see no-one who deserves to win an election

[madprof98]

Thanks for the common sense. It's sorely lacking here. There was an anger directed at immigrants in many of today's posts on the subject that is second only to the anger I've seen Freepers direct at criminals awaiting execution.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Thanks for the quick reply.

So, reading between the lines(which risks making the wrong interpretation) it looks like at least the two sides that matter seem content to address the issue, increasing the odds that some form of bill(s) will be passed. Bush is now positioned to play the middle, instead of the Dems, in the shaping of the bill(s). That is the political gain, not the shallow idea of simply making a proposal would be enough. He'll also likely end up making compromises to the conservative side, resulting in a better bill(s), but from a position that the swing voters are more likely to endorse/view him as on their side. And just as important, the Senate will probably be in that position, too. Meanwhile the Dems are the ones who get frozen out as extreme.

I hope that we will remember the long goal, we must win the presidency and more seats in the Senate to save the judiciary and be in a position to actually pass more conservative measures.