SAN DIEGO — Move over John Kerry. The Senate has a new master of the flip-flop.
Sen. John Cornyn recently told a roomful of Hispanic conservatives who support immigration reform that he was in favor of the Dream Act — before he voted against it. Then, the Texas Republican did a rhetorical pirouette and declared he would favor the legislation again if it were part of a comprehensive immigration reform plan.
It happened in Miami where Cornyn was the lead speaker on an immigration panel at the inaugural conference of the Hispanic Leadership Network, a group designed to build bridges between Hispanics and the center-right.
I was in the room at the time.
A woman in the audience asked the panelists whether they supported the Dream Act, which would have allowed young illegal immigrants to earn legal status by attending college or joining the military. Cornyn stumbled.
“I have supported the Dream Act in the Judiciary Committee,” he said. “But I voted against cloture on the Dream Act during the lame-duck session, and let me explain why.”
But first, a little pandering.
“The children who are the subject of the Dream Act are not culpable,” Cornyn said. “They have no responsibility other than the fact that they came into this country with their parents. And they deserve the chance to have a better life and not be limited by the fact that they are not citizens.
“But what I think is very important is to acknowledge the political posturing and the wedge politics that were played using those children in the lame-duck session of the Congress. It was clear that, notwithstanding promises by the president and the majority leader, they had no intention of allowing a debate and amendments and for Congress to work on an immigration reform bill, and so what they did instead was to raise the Dream Act in the lame-duck session with no amendments and no realistic opportunity to debate and then they would use that vote as a bludgeon against Republicans and those who felt this deserved more deliberate consideration.”
So, Cornyn’s vote against cloture was a protest against what he saw as political shenanigans by Democrats?
I’m sure that will be comforting to those parents out there who were praying for the Dream Act to pass so their children could — what was it Cornyn said? Oh, yes — “have a better life.”
As the senator noted, technically what he voted against wasn’t the Dream Act itself but a motion for cloture. Nonetheless, despite the fact that Democrats control the Senate and deserve most of the blame for the bill’s defeat, Cornyn’s “no” vote did have the effect of helping kill the legislation by preventing it from moving to a final vote before the full Senate.
I don’t fault Cornyn for wanting to consider the Dream Act as part of a bigger piece of legislation. I fault him for his dishonesty.
Cornyn forgot to tell the crowd that when he had the chance to support such a comprehensive reform package just a few years ago, he didn’t. He opposed it despite the fact that the measure — the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 — had the backing of the White House, which was, at the time, occupied by another Republican from Texas with whom Cornyn often agreed: George W. Bush. And he opposed it despite the fact that one of the lead architects of that remarkable compromise was fellow Republican Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, who is normally sympathetic on the immigration issue. In 2005, the two border state senators co-sponsored an unimaginative and unsuccessful enforcement-only bill titled the Comprehensive Enforcement and Immigration Reform Act. That is a lot to leave out of the story.
Cornyn concluded his answer with a promise and more pandering.
“And so,” he said, “I realize how that vote has been used a wedge but you have my commitment that a version of the Dream Act needs to pass as part of a larger immigration reform solution and I will vote for it.”
It’s so childish and unappealing for Republicans to constantly whine about how they’re being bludgeoned by Latinos, immigrant advocates, business groups and others for opposing immigration reform. If it bothers them so much, they could do something simple like start voting for things they claim to support. That is if, after all the twists and turns, they have even the faintest recollection of where they stand.
John Cornyn doesn’t.
Ruben Navarrette’s e-mail address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.
