Posted on 08/23/2006 1:30:50 PM PDT by calcowgirl
The rancorous national debate over illegal immigration spilled into the California Assembly on Tuesday as Democrats yanked an immigration resolution after a testy, partisan exchange that drew an outburst from Speaker Fabian Nunez.
The Los Angeles Democrat emerged from his office to silence Republican critics who were lambasting the nonbinding resolution.
"We're pulling the bill. You've got a problem with that?" he asked before uttering an expletive about Republican nitpicking and leaving the chamber, slamming the door that joins the Assembly to his conference room.
Democrats wanted a vote on a nonbinding resolution urging Congress to pass immigration reform. It called upon President Bush and Congress to reject "mean-spirited" and extreme immigration laws, referring to a House bill that called, in part, for making it a felony to be in the country illegally.
The move by Democrats to withdraw the bill came after lawmakers bickered over whether the measure also promoted decriminalizing illegal immigration.
Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, R-Orange, described the resolution as the most divisive document to come before the Assembly this year. He demanded that Nunez come to the floor to defend it.
"If we're telling Congress, 'Do not make illegal immigration criminal,' why don't we tell all the thieves in California who steal, 'You're not a thief?'" Spitzer said.
Afterward, he told a reporter he was not offended by the speaker's retaliatory remarks.
"He's not mad at me. I'm just the messenger," Spitzer said.
But Morgan Crinklaw, a spokesman for the Assembly Republican Caucus, said Nunez's language "was completely unprofessional given the seriousness of the issue of illegal immigration."
Nunez did not respond to requests for further comment.
His spokesman, Steve Maviglio, said the speaker is "passionate about immigration." He also said many members in the Democrat-controlled Legislature had expected the resolution to pass before Republicans raised objections.
Democrats had hoped to send a resolution to Congress in an effort to add California's voice to the national debate over illegal immigration. Assembly Democrats argued that Congress should give an estimated 12 million immigrants in the country illegally a path to citizenship, while Republicans said the resolution endorsed illegal immigration.
Specifically, they questioned a sentence that asked the president and Congress to reject immigration-reform efforts that would criminalize individuals because of their immigration status.
Republicans countered that efforts to loosen citizenship rules for illegal immigrants already in the United States would open the floodgates.
The Bush administration has urged Congress to enact a temporary worker program to allow at least some illegal immigrants to remain in the country. The U.S. Senate has approved legislation that generally follows Bush's plan, but the House advocated its own bill over concerns that Bush's strategy would amount to amnesty.
The House passed a bill last December that would make it a felony to be in the country illegally, criminalize people who help illegal immigrants and build a 700-mile-long fence along the border with Mexico.
--- On the Net:
Read the resolution, AJR51, at ttp://www.assembly.ca.gov
WHEREAS, Immigrants are a vibrant, productive, and vital part of California's growing economy, diverse cultural fabric, and changing demographics; andWHEREAS, Immigrants and their children comprise nearly one-half of California's population and live and work in all 58 counties, most notably in the San Diego, Central Valley, Los Angeles, and greater San Francisco Bay regions of the state; and
WHEREAS, Immigrants fuel California's economy through their labor and entrepreneurship, comprising approximately one-third of California's labor force and figuring prominently in key economic sectors such as agriculture, construction, manufacturing, and services; and
WHEREAS, A national debate is raging across the United States focused on how to fix our broken immigration system and this debate is tearing at the very core of our founding values; and
WHEREAS, This national discussion demands an intelligent, comprehensive, and balanced approach to immigration reform --one that recognizes that Americans want neither open borders, nor closed borders, but that they want the President and the Congress of the United States to work together to enact legislation that rewards work, reunites families, restores the rule of law, reinforces our nation's security, respects the rights of United States born and immigrant workers, and redeems the "American Dream"; and
WHEREAS, Unfortunately, in December 2005, the House of Representatives passed the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005 (H.R. 4437) that seeks to criminalize an individual for his or her immigration status; make any relative, coworker, parishioner, or friend who provides assistance to an undocumented worker a criminal; deny due process to undocumented immigrants; supersede United States Supreme Court decisions; and infringe on an individual's civil rights. H.R. 4437 is not in our nation's best interests and can only be characterized as mean-spirited, short-sighted, and anti-immigrant; and
WHEREAS, The United States Senate has passed an immigration reform measure that does not advocate an enforcement-only approach, that includes provisions that would provide hard-working, tax-paying residents with a path to citizenship ; however, this measure contains some provisions that run contrary to our nation's values of fairness and justice . We applaud the efforts of California's Senators and others who support and are working towards a comprehensive reform measure that is compassionate to the immigrant, protects our nation' s economy, and safeguards our national security while upholding the dignity of the United States Constitution. We strongly encourage those dissenting congressional representatives to listen to their constituents and the millions of voices throughout the United States and reexamine their position on this extremely important issue; and
WHEREAS, A bipartisan, comprehensive workable immigration reform package must be based on respect for human rights; a path towards permanent residency and citizenship; enforcement of border policies, protecting the wages and working conditions of all workers, whether U.S. born or immigrant workers; reunification of families; and the promotion of citizenship and civic participation; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California respectfully memorializes the President and the Congress of the United States to reject all immigration reform efforts that seek to criminalize an individual because of his or her immigration status, view immigration policy as only a border security issue, or fail to recognize our common humanity and the values of our nation; and be it further
Resolved, That the President and the Congress of the United States must take a comprehensive, bipartisan, and well-reasoned approach to solving our nation's broken immigration system, using the principles set forth above; and be it further
Resolved, That we need to stand up to the extremists' voices who wish to enact policies that will not solve our immigration crisis, but will only serve to divide us; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States.
Telling tantrum. Cool.
With all the Whereas's you think they would of at least once said illegal immigrants.
It's not a crime to break the law. So sayeth the Legislature.
And he's upset that anyone would object. Yeah, those #@*^&#* Republicans.
I have noticed that "mean-spirited" is the adjective-du-jour for the illegal alien lobby.
I also notice that the part about making it a felony to be in the country illegally still has legs, despite the fact that the House Democrats had the opportunity to remove that from the House immigration bill and chose not do so so. Cynical but smart move on their part.
Closely followed by "racist," "xenophobe," and "isolationist."
"Law abiding" is nowhere to be found.
Tantrums are Nunez's usual MO. He thinks the girls like it and that it shows his "passion."
There is no difference between Democrats and Republicans. /s
ping
Hes also firmly on your side of the issue.
You're wrong.
California is run by Democrats, and a number of Liberal Republicans spinkled in. There are some conservative Republicans, but they are outnumbered.
What this tantrum tells me is that even in a liberally run Assembly they couldn't pass a resolution praising amnesty.
So, who's on the losing side of this debate again?
Both the pro-illegal and anti-illegal sides are coalitions of strange bedfellows.
Some on each side resort to name calling.
Some on each side have good, well thought out arguments and do not need to resort to name calling.
Do you oppose the felony language in the house bill? Do you support a "comprehensive" bill? Do you disagree with anything in the bill? Id bet the only thing you do disagree with is the vague worker protection language.
"Nunez did not respond to requests for further comment."
Are you taking notes, Sen. Allen? Instead of groveling and pleading for forgiveness, this is the way Democrats handle off-the-cuff comments. Of course, the msm lets them get away with it, as opposed to the drawing and quartering that Republicans are subjected to in similar circumstances.
Wrong again. No wonder you third party types always lose.
<< I have noticed that "mean-spirited" is the adjective-du-jour for the illegal alien lobby.
Closely followed by "racist," "xenophobe," and "isolationist."
"Law abiding" is nowhere to be found. >>
Why would it be? After all the vast criminal enterprizes euphamistically known as the "Democrats" -- and including their political and bureaucratic activists -- while both pathologically projecting and relying on the insidious efficacy of such of the tools of their tyranny as "mean-spirited," "racist," "xenophobe" and "isolationist,"
know nothing whatsoever about the Law.
Let alone about abiding by it.
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