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2007: “Talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem.” Trent Lott
6/15/2007, “Senate Leaders Agree to Revive Immigration Bill,” NY Times,” Robert Pear, Jeff Zeleny
.
“The Republican whip, Trent Lott of Mississippi, who supports the (immigration) bill, said:
- “Talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem.”
Senate Democratic and Republican leaders announced on Thursday that they had agreed on a way to revive a comprehensive immigration bill that was pulled off the Senate floor seven days ago.
The majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, and the minority leader, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, said they expected the bill to return to the floor before the Fourth of July recess.
In a joint statement, Mr. Reid and Mr. McConnell said:
“We met this evening with several of the senators involved in the
immigration bill negotiations. Based on that discussion, the immigration
bill will return to the Senate floor after completion of the energy
bill.”
It would increase border security, crack down on companies that employ illegal immigrants, establish a guest worker program and offer legal status to most of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.
The agreement does not guarantee that the bill will be approved by the Senate or become law.
Supporters of the bipartisan bill predict that some conservative Republicans will try to block a vote on final passage, because of concerns about the legalization program.
Predicting
“procedural barriers,” Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the
third-ranking member of the Senate Democratic leadership team, said, “Three or four senators will try to block every amendment.”
The House has held many hearings on immigration this year. House Democratic leaders, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have expressed concerns about major provisions of the Senate bill, including one that would give less weight to family ties in deciding who can immigrate to the United States.
A White House spokesman, Scott M. Stanzel, said, “We are encouraged by the announcement from Senate leaders that comprehensive immigration reform will be brought back up for consideration.”
The bill stalled on June 7, when supporters garnered just 45 of the 60 votes needed to end debate. Republican senators said that they had not been allowed to offer enough amendments.
Under the agreement reached on Thursday, the Senate will consider about 22 amendments, half from Republicans and half from Democrats.
Earlier in the day, trying to start the bill moving again in the Senate, Mr.
Bush called for an immediate burst of $4.4 billion in spending to show
that the government was committed to “securing this border once and for
all.”
Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia, described the call for $4.4 billion as “a good start.” But Mr. Isakson said Mr. Bush needed to do more to secure the border and to show that he was serious about enforcing immigration laws.
Comments by Republican senators on Thursday suggested that they were feeling the heat from conservative critics of the bill, who object to provisions offering legal status. The Republican whip, Trent Lott of Mississippi, who supports the bill, said:
“Talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem.”
At some point, Mr. Lott said, Senate Republican leaders may try to rein in “younger guys who are huffing and puffing against the bill.”
Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, welcomed the president’s support for more spending on border security, but said, “There’s no reason why we should be forced to tie amnesty to it.”
Mr. Bush said the $4.4 billion would “come from the fines and penalties that we collect from those who have come to our country illegally” and apply for legal status.
Representative Duncan Hunter of California, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, scorned such linkage.
“The idea that we will have border security only if it’s paid for by illegal immigrants is unacceptable,” Mr. Hunter said.
Matthew
A. Towery, a political analyst in Atlanta who was once a campaign
chairman for Newt Gingrich and is now chief executive of a polling firm,
Insider Advantage, said: “Having George W. Bush come out and speak in favor of the immigration bill does not do any good for Republican senators. He just irritates the conservative base of the Republican Party, which has abandoned him on this issue.”
A
new proposal floated on Thursday in an effort to deter the hiring of
illegal immigrants would put biometric identifiers into Social Security
cards. That change would make the cards more difficult to forge and
counterfeit, Mr. Schumer said.”
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Comment: If the GOP were an actual opposition party to the Democrats and listened to Republican voters, we wouldn’t need to listen to talk radio.
In 2007 as in 2018, the GOP Establishment wants open borders, also
known as so-called “comprehensive immigration reform.” Normal human
beings, at least the Republican half of the electorate, understand that
without a southern border, the US no longer exists. Their legitimate
demand is that US government obey laws and carry out its duty to protect
Americans by installing barriers along the entire US border. GOP slime Trent Lott would call these concerns “huffing and puffing.” The GOP passed a weak fence bill in 2006 and in 2007 made it even weaker, “quietly” amending it:
“The Secure Fence Act of 2006… was passed by a Republican Congress and signed by President George W. Bush [on Oct. 26, 2006]. It authorized the construction of hundreds of miles of additional fencing along the border with Mexico. The act specified “at least two layers of reinforced fencing.”
The Oct. 26, 2006 Secure Fence Act of 2006, was quietly altered [by Republicans] in a significant way the following year (2007)….The law was amended to read, “nothing in this paragraph shall require the Secretary of Homeland Security to install fencing."
“Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, proposed an amendment to give DHS the discretion to decide what type of fence was appropriate in different areas. The law was amended to read, “nothing in this paragraph shall require the Secretary of Homeland Security to install fencing,
physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors in a
particular location along an international border of the United States, if the Secretary determines that
the use or placement of such resources is not the most appropriate
means to achieve and maintain operational control over the international
border at such location….DHS reports that the southwest border continues to be vulnerable to cross-border illegal activity, including the smuggling of humans and illegal narcotics.”…
5/16/2011, “Obama says the border fence is ‘now basically complete’,” PolitiFact, Robert Farley
“Sections of the fence on the Mexico border, like this one near San Miguel, Ariz., are designed primarily to stop vehicles.” Politifact photo
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