Immigration
Posted: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 9:02 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Congress
NBC’s Ken Strickland says that with two weeks remaining before the July 4th recess, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has drawn up an ambitious wish list of legislation to complete before the break. Chief among them is immigration reform. While Reid agreed to bring the bill back as early as this week, the bill's fate remains unknown. It's very likely the Senate will be working during at least part of this weekend in order to get everything done.
Besides immigration, the list also includes an energy bill, now being debated on the floor; the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier for workers to unionize, but has essentially no chance of passage; and work on a defense bill, which would revive the Iraq debate with votes on Democratic amendments -- some of which set timelines for troop withdrawal.
Strick notes that Reid will try to finish energy bill by mid-week. Then, by Thursday at the earliest, they could start the debate and votes on immigration. Some of those votes will be on amendments -- that if passed -- could fracture the fragile coalition holding the bill together and result in its failure on final passage.
Meanwhile, NBC’s Mike Viqueira reports that House Democrats are preparing for their own battle on immigration. Over the next two weeks, the leadership will convene a series of closed-door meetings that aim to eventually include every member of the Democratic caucus. The leaders are eager to get out ahead of the "amnesty" debate that has dominated the Senate proceedings and led to the near-death experience of the last two weeks. Should it ultimately survive the Senate test, the full House is set to take it up sometime in July. The goal now is to both listen to members and gauge their position on the key provisions -- like a path to citizenship, a guest-worker program, and family migration.
Supporters of the Senate measure, Viq says, have been critical of the communications effort behind the unveiling of their bill. The measure was crafted behind closed doors and announced suddenly, with none of the coordination, build-up, and marketing that have come to characterize most major political and policy initiative roll outs in modern Washington. House Democrats will try to avoid the same legislative rollercoaster. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, at the direction of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, says that the House has no choice but to act -- especially after successive Republican congresses failed to do so. Even so, Pelosi has said that the president will have to deliver 70 Republicans in the House if the measure is to move forward.
The New York Times travels to Georgia and interviews residents who aren’t pleased with the Senate immigration bill, even with new efforts to bolster border enforcement. “The storm raging around the bill shows no sign of abating despite reassuring presidential words about strengthening border security.”
