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Immigrant Bill, Short 15 Votes,
Stalls in Senate
By CARL HULSE and ROBERT PEAR
Published: June 8, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/08
WASHINGTON, June 7 — The sweeping immigration
overhaul endorsed by President Bush crumbled in the
Senate on Thursday night, leaving the future of one
of the administration’s chief domestic priorities in
serious doubt.
After a day of tension and fruitless maneuvering,
senators rejected a Democratic call to move toward a
final vote on the compromise legislation after
Republicans complained that they had not been given
enough opportunity to reshape the sprawling bill.
Supporters of cutting off debate got only 45 of the
60 votes they needed; 50 senators opposed the
cutoff.
“We are finished with this for the time being,” said
Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada and the
majority leader, as he turned the Senate to work on
energy legislation.
Mr. Reid did, however, leave the door open to
revisiting the immigration issue later this year and
said he would continue to explore ways to advance a
plan. “We all have to work, the president included,
to find a way to get this bill passed,” he said.
The outcome, which followed an outpouring of
criticism of the measure from core Republican voters
and from liberal Democrats as well, was a
significant setback for the president. It came
mainly at the hands of members of his own party
after he championed the proposal in the hope of
claiming it as a major domestic policy achievement
in the last months of his administration.
The collapse of the measure came as Mr. Bush was in
Europe for an international economic summit, and it
was not immediately clear how hard he would fight to
resurrect the bill upon his return next week.
Scott Stanzel, a White House spokesman, said the
White House still held hope that a bill could be
passed.
“We are encouraged that the leadership of both
parties in the United States Senate indicated that
they would bring this legislation back up for
consideration,” Mr. Stanzel said. “And we will
continue to work with members of the United States
Senate to make sure this process moves forward.”
The defeat was also crushing for a bipartisan group
of about a dozen senators who met privately for
three months to broker a compromise that tried to
balance a call for stricter border enforcement with
a way for many of the 12 million people who are
illegally in the country to qualify for citizenship
eventually.
“The vote was obviously a big disappointment, but it
makes no sense to fold our tent, and I certainly
don’t intend to,” said Senator Edward M. Kennedy,
Democrat of Massachusetts and a chief author of the
bill. “Doing nothing is totally unacceptable”
Other proponents said they still saw life in the
legislation despite the blow in the Senate.
“This matter is on life support, but it is not
dead,” said Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of
Pennsylvania and another central architect of the
plan.
Senate conservatives fought the legislation from the
start, saying it rewarded those who broke the law by
entering the country illegally. After winning a few
important changes in the measure, Republican critics
demanded more time and drew support for their calls
for more opportunity to fight it out on the Senate
floor.
“I simply do not understand why some of my
colleagues want to jam this legislation through the
Congress without a serious and thorough examination
of its consequences,” said Senator John Cornyn,
Republican of Texas.
Senator Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican who was
another leading opponent, said he believed lawmakers
responded to constituent complaints about the flaws
in the measure “I was not going to support a piece
of legislation that will not work,” Mr. Sessions
said.
Mr. Reid said the critics were simply stalling and
would never be satisfied. Noting the Senate had
considered more than 40 amendments and held 28 roll
call votes, he attributed the failure of the bill to
Republican recalcitrance.
In the end, 38 Republicans, 11 Democrats and one
independent voted not to shut off debate; 37
Democrats, 7 Republicans and one independent voted
to bring the issue to a head.
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican
leader, said he believed Republicans would have
eventually relented had they been given more time to
work out an agreement on what amendments would be
considered. “I think we are giving up on this bill
too soon,” Mr. McConnell said.
The vote was the second attempt of the day to cut
off a debate that had gone on for nearly two weeks,
interrupted by the Memorial Day recess. On the
initial showdown in the morning, the Senate fell 27
votes short of the 60 required; every Republican and
15 Democrats opposed the move.
The morning vote sent Senate leaders and backers of
the legislation scrambling, trying to reach an
agreement to salvage the measure with the help of
administration officials. Homeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff was also consulted by
phone.
The progress of negotiations was uncertain
throughout the day. As late as 6:30 p.m., Mr.
Kennedy was still uncertain where many senators
stood on the call to force an end to the debate.
“It’s touch and go,” Mr. Kennedy said. “It’s
extremely close at this time. Republicans have held
their cards.”
The compromise legislation was announced on May 17
by authors who hailed it as a “grand bargain.” It
held together through much of the debate because the
negotiators — embodied on the right by Senator Jon
Kyl of Arizona, a Republican, and on the left by Mr.
Kennedy — agreed to block proposals they thought
would sink the measure. That led to such odd moments
as when Mr. Kyl on Wednesday opposed an amendment he
had helped write for last year’s unsuccessful
immigration measure.
But the legislation began running into problems late
Wednesday night and early Thursday morning as the
Senate approved a Democratic proposal to limit a
guest-worker program sought by business interests
and backed by Republicans. Backers of the bill hoped
to reverse that result if the measure moved forward.
“It is indispensable to have a guest-worker program
to take care of the needs of the economy,” said Mr.
Specter. “If we don’t, we will just encounter more
people coming over illegally.”
At the same time, some Democrats were growing
increasingly uneasy.
Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey,
said the bill had become “more punitive and more
onerous” because of amendments adopted in the last
few days. Mr. Menendez pointed, for example, to one
that denied the earned-income tax credit to illegal
immigrants who gain legal status under the bill.
Cecilia Muñoz, a vice president of the National
Council of La Raza, the Hispanic rights group, said
she had similar concerns. Changes approved by the
Senate this week make the bill “not only more
punitive, but also less workable,” Ms. Muñoz said.
Trying to bolster Democratic support, the Service
Employees International Union urged senators
Thursday to vote for a limit to the debate. In a
letter to the Senate, Anna Burger,
secretary-treasurer of the union, listed many
serious objections to the bill, but said, “The time
to move forward is now.”
The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a
coalition of civil rights groups, also backed
cloture, saying, “A small handful of immigration
restrictionists’ in the Senate should not be allowed
to prolong the debate indefinitely.”
In addition to the limit on the guest worker
program, supporters of the bill said they would also
try to change an amendment that gives law
enforcement and intelligence agencies access to
certain information in unsuccessful applications
filed by illegal immigrants seeking legal status.
Despite the strong Republican vote against ending
debate, party leaders said throughout the day they
wanted to reach some accommodation. Senator Trent
Lott of Mississippi, the No. 2 Republican, urged his
colleagues to stiffen their spines and try to
resolve one of the nation’s most pressing problems.
“Are we men and women or mice?” Mr. Lott asked. “Are
we going to slither away from this issue and hope
for some epiphany to happen? No. Let’s legislate.
Let’s vote.”
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