As I have noted before, this is a very hot issue with me as it is with many Americans.  I respect President Bush for being strong to protect our country through the War on Terror, Patriot Act, and enforcing important legalities to thwart future terrorist attacks; HOWEVER, I am VERY upset with him and his administration about backing this ludicrous amnesty bill.  As noted below, if the proposed amendments outlined in this end of the day bulletin had passed, then I would be more supportive of this bill.   Scottius has a great idea though:  just enforce the present law and build the fence!!!  And also, let's make sure that our border patrol agents are protected when they are trying to enforce the law and protect our country.   And while we are on the changes that need to be made, let's start by adopting English as our official and natural language of the United States of America!!  This is the United States, and if someone wants to live here, then abide by the rules and learn to be an American!!!!!!!  I have nothing against immigrants, but I am against illegal immigrants who want to make America like Mexico culturally and take advantage of our
"free" health care systems and social programs!!!  Did you know that if we cross the Mexican border and try to do what these illegals are doing, we would get kicked out of the country immediately?    Shouldn't that give our politicians a little clue what is going on here?   Well,this redhead better stop soapboxing for now or she will have to be dealing with high blood pressure problems. :)


To: Friends and Supporters

From: Gary L. Bauer, Chairman
Campaign for Working Families

Date: Monday, June 11, 2007



It’s Back

We warned you Friday that the so-called comprehensive immigration reform
bill wasn’t dead, but wounded.  Forty-eight hours later, the White House is
engaged in a full court press to resuscitate the bill.  Administration
spokesmen made the rounds on the Sunday talk shows vowing to fight on, and
President Bush will be making a rare Capitol Hill visit tomorrow to sell
the plan to skeptical senators in his own party – three-quarters of whom
voted against the bill Thursday night.

But the expenditure of additional political capital on this bill – as a
matter of politics and policy – makes little sense.  In tackling
immigration reform in a “comprehensive” manner, the politicians are putting
the cart before the horse (amnesty before border security) and they have
lost the confidence of the American people.

The respected polling firm Rasmussen Reports has done outstanding work
tracking this debate, and I wanted to share some of Rasmussen’s post-mortem
commentary:

“There is no mystery to why the public opposed the bill.  In the minds of
most Americans, immigration reform means reducing illegal immigration and
enforcing the border.  Only 16% believed the Senate bill would accomplish
that goal. …

“From the beginning, the Senate approached the issue with [the] top
priority of addressing the legal status of the illegal aliens. They
addressed concerns about guest-worker programs and questions about whether
family or skill level should be more important when determining who could
enter the country.

“All of those are important questions, but they are not the most important
question.  Rasmussen Reports polling found that 72% of Americans believe
it’s Very Important to reduce illegal immigration and enforce the borders.
Just 29% said it was Very Important to legalize the status of those
illegally living in the country today.”

Yesterday on Fox News Sunday, White House spokesman Tony Snow said, “Our
sense is that if Majority Leader Harry Reid brings it back up, which he
should, and permits a full debate, …we’re not only going to get a bill, but
we’re going to get a better bill.”

Really?  Knowing that border security and enforcement is the main concern
of the public, let’s recap just a few of the amendments that were defeated
in two weeks of debate:

--The Coleman amendment to end the policy of “sanctuary cities,” defeated
48-to-49;

--The McConnell amendment to require a photo ID for voting in order to
combat voter fraud, defeated 41-to-52;

--The Cornyn amendment to deny amnesty to gang members and illegal aliens
with criminal records, defeated 46-to-51;

--The Vitter amendment to guarantee a secure, biometric check in / check
out visa system be in place prior to any guest worker program going into
effect, defeated 48-to-49; and

--The Coburn-DeMint amendment to guarantee full border security prior to
amnesty, defeated 42-to-54.

(To see how your senators vote on these amendments, be certain check out
CWF’s online Congressional Scorecard at http://www.cwfpac.com)

Maybe President Bush is going to go to Capitol Hill tomorrow and urge
senators to reconsider their votes on these important border security
amendments.  That would be a debate worth having.  I suspect Harry Reid
decided to cut off the debate last week because all these votes against
commonsense border security issues was getting a little embarrassing.

As Rasmussen Reports noted, border security could rally the overwhelming
majority of Americans and unite the conservative base against Ted Kennedy
and the pro-amnesty liberals in the Senate.  But without these amendments,
it’s hard to imagine how we will “get a better bill,” and the insistence of
Washington’s political elites on forcing something through that the public
clearly does not want will only infuriate the grass roots even more.