Posted on 06/29/2007 6:26:32 AM PDT by blam
Sessions gets his way as immigration bill fails
Senator's stand popular among Alabama GOP
Friday, June 29, 2007
By SEAN REILLYWashington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- As U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions cheered on the defeat of a bipartisan immigration bill Thursday, he could be confident that Alabama Republicans were also applauding. Calls from constituents were lopsidedly against the measure, according to a tally provided by his office, and a top official with the state GOP said he believed that rank-and-file Republicans overwhelmingly opposed it as well.
Elsewhere, the reaction may be more muted.
Earlier this week, several party activists in Western states said the hard-line stance of Sessions and other lawmakers on immigration issues was undercutting efforts to woo the fast-growing Hispanic population.
"I think it hurts us tremendously," said Gilberto Cisneros, chairman of the Colorado chapter of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, a Washington, D.C.-based outreach organization. In the course of the last two election cycles, Republicans have lost control of the Colorado governor's office and both houses of the General Assembly, defeats that Cisneros attributed in part to Hispanic voters veering Democratic.
Not everyone agrees, and Sessions, R-Mobile, said in a Tuesday interview that "we have to do what's right for America."
Risk for GOP?
But the tension underscores what some see as a growing divide between the demands of today's Republican voters and the demographic realities surrounding the party's long-range future. Although the consequences could take years to play out, the risk to the GOP is "huge," said Rodolfo Espino, a political scientist at Arizona State University.
(Excerpt) Read more at al.com ...
So much for the chatter about how this bill fared. Lets get down to the business of securing the Mexican border, removing the anchor baby clause, begin denying welfare of any sort to ILLEGAL immigrants and get this country back on track!
:^)
Certainly gives us a wedge issue doesn't it? Can pin every murder/rape by an illegal on them in the campaign. I'd cut local commercials regarding crimes/convictions in that community of illegals when it's an ugly crime.
The Register’s writers must be dizzy from all of the spin.
I didn’t get to watch any of the proceedings. Being from Alabama, watching him as the state Attorney General, and during his time as Senator, he is a stand up guy that votes his conscience about what is good and right for our country. IMHO, he is one of the very, very few in Federal government now that qualifies as a true statesman. I am very proud that he is my Senator.
Uh...No. They're wrong, but they aren't all Hispanic. Don't fool yourself into thinking that there aren't plenty of non-Hispanics fools that were for this.
I aware of that, what I’m pointing out is that it’s all these hispanic advocacy groups that are claiming this will hurt the GOP, which I think is garbage. You don’t see vast swathes of editorials claiming the same.
I have a Hispanic name and I am against this as much as anyone for all of the reasons stated on this site. There is an orgnaization for people who have some spanish background which states that the open border groups do not speak for us and promotes American valuse.
I’m aware of that too, what I’m saying (apparently not well) is that it seems to be only the hispanic advocay groups that are claiming this will hurt the GOP. Nobody else is buying into the hispanic advocates claims that amnesty would attract voters to the GOP.
In other words their claims are falling on deaf ears and their attempts to hold the GOP hostage is being ignored. In my experience legal hispanics are especially disgusted with the idea of amnesty for those who didn’t follow the same path they did.
Said the same thing yesterday. The GOP rebels in the Senate need to complete the rebellion and vote McConnel and Lott out of their leadership position. And then the House and Senate pubbies need to force Bush to remove Martinez as head of the RNC. Bush does not need the RNC for re-election. They do. They need someone in charge over there who is concerned about the GOP in 2008 and not amnesty in 2007.
Amen.
Called Senator Session's office today to thank him and also sent him a web based email.
Now all Senator Sessions needs to do is to get his colleagues to do the same thing - i.e. do what’s right for America, instead of serving their other various masters.
Demand a border fence! Build it NOW!! Beef up the border patrol and close our borders!
U.S. Senate switchboard: (202) 224-3121
U.S. House switchboard: (202) 225-3121
White House comments: (202) 456-1111
Find your House Rep.: http://www.house.gov/writerep
Find your US Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Toll free to the US Senate:
1-800-882-2005. (Spanish number)
1-800-417-7666. (English number)
Courtesy of a pro-amnesty group, no less!!
"First, I want to thank you for your courageous stand against the Senate Immigration bill that failed to sustain a cloture vote on Thursday. You and others from both the Republican and Democrat parties who voted 'NO' on cloture deserve our deepest gratitude.
"I would, however, caution that the game is not over. It appears likely that proponents of the original bills will be attempting to pass portions, such as 'The Dream Act', 'AgJobs Bill' and 'Tech-Worker Visas' as seperate bills in order to accomplish the whole. This is no more acceptible to the public than their original intent. These must be defeated in turn.
"Regarding 'The Dream Act', I'd like to address your attention to the website http://www.dreamact.info/forum/. It is an online forum made up mostly of Illegal Aliens who support this legislation. The intriguing thing about this website is that many write of fraudulently acquiring SS Cards, and identity theft.
"Frankly, I have little hope that since Michael Chertoff has shown the inability of DHS to use our existing Immigration laws to protect America, DHS will be less than useful against such people. However, I bring this to your attention with the hope that the Senate may shed proper light on these activities.
"Again thank you for your great work. I just wanted to let you know how much it is appreciated."
I also emailed my Congressman Donald Manzullo (R) IL this message:
"Thanks and praise surely goes too the honor of a large number of Senators who stood against the Senate Immigration Bill yesterday, and caused its defeat. Hopefully, this will mean Immigration will not again be taken up in such a manner for quite some time. It is still feared, however, that Democrats may attempt to resurrect various portions of the bill in an attempt to have them passed separately ultimately accomplishing the same affect on our country.
"Instead, and since such a broad spectrum of the GOP members of the House stood up against this Senate travesty, I'd like to see the House GOP organization develop their own comprehensive legislation for Immigration reform. While there have been some public comments from Speaker Pelosi to the effect that such a bill have no chance in the House, she essentially said the same regarding Rep. Pence's bill which effectively undercut the Democrat's push to renew the [un]Fairness Doctrine. If she can be marginalized one time, she can be again.
"I believe most Americans would support a form of comprehensive Immigration reform if it included common sense legislation that underpins and strengthens current law; and insures we FIRST act through current law in 1) Closing the border, 2) Strengthening our Border Patrol, 3) Enforcing sanctions and penalties against employers of illegals, and 4) Begin enforcing deportation laws against any and all illegal aliens we capture. Once we begin seeing the fruits of these efforts, I'm confident Americans everywhere will be open to reviewing our current Immigration system, in an effort to make it more suitable to our needs as a country.
"Before I close, I'd like to point you to the following website: http://www.dreamact.info/forum/. This is a forum made up of apparent illegal aliens who are in open support of the DREAM ACT, which was to have been included in the Senate bill as written. As I understand it, the DREAM ACT would grant citizenship to illegal alien students. If someone on your staff would take the time to visit this site, they'd see that, among other things, these people openly discuss illegally obtaining SS cards, and identity theft.
"Due to Mr. Chertoff's apparent inability (or desire) to comply with existing Immigration enforcement law, I have little hope that DHS or its agencies would actively pursue these people. So, I bring this to your attention to see if some other avenue may be found to take control of such a deplorable situation.
"Thank you personally for your opposition to this Senate fiasco. And thank you for your time in listening to an old Republican."
We MUST keep the pressure up, folks!
If Hispanics have been veering away from the GOP, despite Bush's efforts to go to bat for amnesty for illegal immigrants, doesn't that completely deflate the claims that the GOP needs to support this in order to win Hispanic votes?
One thing that must happen is an agressive refutation and response to the lie that being against amnesty for illegal aliens is akin to being 'anti-hispanic' let alone anti-immigrant. There are mnay pro-legal-immigrant hispanic supporters of the GOP who also oppose amnesty and want the borders secured.
Correct. I am more hopeful for the future of conservatism in America than I have been for a long long time. We CAN win, not by pandering but by standing firm on the basic common-sense principles that liberals run away from. What we stood on in opposing amensty was basic 'law-and-order' and concepts of fairness and common sense. If and when we unite on these core principles, we WILL win.
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