Washington – President Bush blamed Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid on Saturday for the potentially fatal blow dealt to compromise immigration legislation.
The landmark bill, which would offer eventual citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants, fell victim Friday to internal disputes in both parties.
But Bush – echoing earlier complaints from Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. – sought to place all the blame on Reid, D-Nev., who refused to permit votes on more than three Republican-backed amendments.
“I call on the Senate minority leader to end his blocking tactics and allow the Senate to do its work and pass a fair, effective immigration reform bill,” Bush said in his weekly radio address.
Hailed as a bipartisan breakthrough earlier in the week, the immigration measure would have provided for stronger border security, regulated the future entry of foreign workers and created a complex new set of regulations for the estimated 12 million immigrants in the country illegally.
Officials said an estimated 9 million of them, those who could show they had been in the United States for more than two years, would eventually become eligible for citizenship under the proposal.
“Immigration is an emotional issue and a vitally important one,” Bush said. “At its core, immigration is the sign of a confident and successful nation.”
The legislation was gridlocked as lawmakers left the Capitol on Friday for a two- week break. After bewildering political maneuvering, a key vote produced only 38 senators, all Democrats, in support – 22 short of the 60 needed.
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, pledged to have legislation ready for debate in the Senate within two weeks of the lawmakers’ return.
Frist, though, stopped short of a commitment to bring another immigration bill to the floor by year’s end.
Frist and others accused Reid of “putting a stranglehold” on the Senate.
Reid swiftly rebutted the claim: “I respect Bill Frist, but his position on this matter simply defies logic. … He needed the courage to move forward.”
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who had seemed more eager than the Nevadan all week to find a compromise, declined several chances to offer a strong defense of his party’s leader.
Colorado votes in Congress
Here’s how some major bills fared recently in Congress and how Colorado’s congressional members voted, as provided by Thomas’ Roll Call Report Syndicate. N/V means not voting.
HOUSE
Campaign funds
For: 218/Against: 209
Members voted to limit the contributions that advocacy groups set up under Section 527 of the tax code can receive from wealthy individuals. By a wide margin, “527s” aided Democrats more than Republicans in 2004. A yes vote was to pass HR 513.
All Colorado Republicans Yes
All Colorado Democrats No
House ethics
For: 218/Against: 198
Members blocked a call by Democrats for the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to investigate House members and staff “implicated in the scandals associated with Mr. Jack Abramoff’s criminal activity.” A yes vote was to block HR 762.
All Colorado Republicans Yes
All Colorado Democrats No
Democrats’ ethics bill
For: 226/Against: 198
Members blocked a bid by Democrats to force debate on their bill (HR 4682) to tighten ethics in Congress. The bill, in part, would make it a felony to use one’s office to influence the hiring or firing of lobbyists. A yes vote was to block the Democratic motion.
All Colorado Republicans Yes
All Colorado Democrats No
Cash-balance pensions
For: 248/Against: 178
Members approved recommendations to House conferees negotiating with the Senate over terms of a pension reform bill (HR 2830). A yes vote urged that older workers’ defined-benefit pensions not be devalued in conversions to cash-
balance plans.
All Colorado Democrats Yes
All Colorado Republicans No
Tax debate
For: 196/Against: 232
Members defeated a nonbinding Democratic bid to strip lower dividend and capital-gains rates from a tax-cut bill nearing a final vote in House-Senate negotiations. A yes vote urged removal of the provisions over GOP arguments they spur economic growth. (HR 4297)
All Colorado Democrats Yes
All Colorado Republicans No
SENATE
Border enforcement
For: 84/Against: 6
Senators authorized up to $50 million annually in federal grants to help local police fight crime linked to illegal border crossings. A yes vote was to add the grants program to a pending bill to overhaul U.S. immigration laws (S 2454).
Wayne Allard (R) Yes
Ken Salazar (D) N/V
Immigration
For: 38/Against: 60
Senators failed to reach 60 votes needed to advance a bill accommodating most of the millions of illegal immigrants who have been in the country at least two years. A yes vote backed the bill (S 2454) over GOP protests that Democrats were freezing out their amendments.
Wayne Allard (R) No
Ken Salazar (D) Yes
Dorrance Smith
For: 59/Against: 39
Senators confirmed A. Dorrance Smith for the Pentagon’s top public affairs post. Smith stirred controversy by saying U.S. networks become tools of terrorists, including al-Qaeda, when they air al-Jazeera hostage footage. A yes vote was to confirm Smith.
Wayne Allard (R) Yes
Ken Salazar (D) No
KEY VOTES AHEAD
Congress is in Easter-Passover recess until the week of April 24.
