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From The
Washington
Times |
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May
27,
2006 |
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By Jerry Seper and Stephen Dinan
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published May 27, 2006
One of the top House negotiators on immigration said
yesterday the only way a final compromise bill can pass
is if the Senate drops its path to citizenship for
current illegal aliens, even as Sen. John McCain
announced plans to try to broker a deal.
Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., chairman of the
House Judiciary Committee, said he is willing to accept
a temporary-worker program for future workers, but
citizenship for illegal aliens -- which he said
definitely constitutes "amnesty" -- is out.
"A guest-worker program I think can be on the table
if it does not contain an amnesty, but only if the
employer sanctions and the increased border patrols are
effective," the Wisconsin Republican said.
It's not just Mr. Sensenbrenner. House Republicans
are lining up behind him in their opposition to the
Senate bill, including Rep. Charlie Norwood, Georgia
Republican, who said it "constitutes treachery against
U.S. sovereignty" and called it "dead on arrival in the
House."
"The U.S. Senate voted to sell out the American
people to vested and foreign interests with passage of a
bill granting not only amnesty, but preferential
treatment of illegal aliens over American citizens," Mr.
Norwood said.
Meanwhile, two members of the Republican Main
Street Partnership, a group of moderate to liberal
Republicans, said they will try to broker a deal on
their own.
Mr. McCain, the Arizona Republican who was a driving
force behind the Senate's bill, and Rep. Michael N.
Castle, Delaware Republican, announced they already have
begun meeting to try to reach an agreement.
The Senate on Thursday passed its broad immigration
bill, which offers a chance for citizenship to millions
of illegal aliens, increases legal immigration, creates
a separate program for future foreign workers, builds
370 miles of fencing on the border, and approves hiring
thousands of new border and interior law-enforcement
personnel.
The House in December passed an immigration bill
that focuses on enforcement including 698 miles of
fencing, thousands of new enforcement officers, a system
to check for employers to verify that both current and
future employees are legally able to work, and a
provision extending criminal penalties to cover all
illegal aliens and raising the crime to a felony.
The Senate bill passed on the strength of Democratic
votes, 62-36. Four Democrats and 32 Republicans -- a
majority of the Senate Republican Conference -- voted
against it. The House bill passed 239-182, with 17
Republicans and 164 Democrats opposing it.
From the White House standpoint, press secretary
Tony Snow said the administration has done what it could
to take the border-security objection off the table, and
have now "gotten past that important benchmark."
"Border enforcement starts the first full week of
June. It's already happened," Mr. Snow said, referring
to the deployment date for the first of up to 6,000
National Guard troops President Bush wants sent to the
border. "What the president has proposed is far more
aggressive and robust than anything that had been
considered by either house."
Mr. Snow said that means Republicans who wanted
border security first now can say they "got our way,"
and said that frees those Republicans to now take a look
at a guest-worker plan and a path to citizenship for
some illegal aliens -- the components of a
"comprehensive" plan.
He said the president is not going to back off his
principles, but knows he will have to work within the
legislative process.
Mr. Snow specifically mentioned Mr. Sensenbrenner as
a sign of progress: "Somebody like Chairman
Sensenbrenner, who's got some real problems with various
aspects, has said publicly that the temporary-worker
program has merit."
But Mr. Sensenbrenner has always distinguished
between a program for future foreign workers, which he
says is acceptable, and a path to citizenship for
current illegal aliens, which he rejects.
He says the solution to current illegal aliens is
better interior enforcement and sanctions against
employers who hire illegals, which would dry up the
supply of jobs and force aliens to return home through
attrition.
Mr. Sensenbrenner said the White House already has
been trying to move the House off its position, and
hasn't had much luck. He said the White House sent
Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove to meetings of the House
Republican Conference last week and this week to argue
the White House case, but met with stiff resistance.
"They jumped all over Rove, and they said the
president is not where the American people are at," Mr.
Sensenbrenner said.
And Mr. Norwood said if the House and Senate
negotiators agree on stiff border security, only then
should lawmakers turn their attention to current illegal
aliens. He said those aliens should be allowed to join a
temporary-worker program but would have to return home
at the end, and then get in line to come back legally.
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