Dear Friends,

The next important vote on the immigration bill is the cloture vote scheduled for Thursday, June 28th.

I know you've called, faxed and e-mailed against cloture once. Please do so again in the next 24 hours. You can send an e-mail here.

There are reports of Senators who voted for cloture only to allow some debate. Debate has not exactly been the result of yesterday's cloture vote.

A 373-page set of amendments that Senate Majority leader had agreed to allow was released last night. You can read about those amendments here.

Yet another version of the immigration bill issued this morning

Alas, haste once again made waste. The document was full of errors and a promised amendment was missing. So back to the drawing board, went the Senate, with yet another version of the bill issued just before lunch today.

This bill, which is now on its fourth version, has never been the subject of hearings or a proper legislative markup. Instead, exhausted staffers have been expected to master the details of a three-pound bill overnight, only to have their hard work go for naught the next morning.

The wonder is not that the immigration bill contains errors. The wonder is that it does not contain many more.

Last night's version of the legislation created 31 permanent new judgeships, judgeships which could be filled only by majority vote of a Democratic-controlled Senate. There is a special program for shepherds. Temporary farm workers are expected to learn English more quickly than recipients of amnesty.

Today we learn that the $4.4 billion promised for border security can be spent for amnesty programs instead. We also learn that the Bush Administration still believes that this immigration bill is popular with the public.

David Frum asked a good question about the future of the Bush Administration yesterday in his blog on National Review Online:

On immigration, President Bush has gone way beyond spending political capital; he has now maxed out his political credit cards. He will not be able to ask Congress for anything else. Which raises the question: What happens when the surge comes up for review in September? Has the president in effect sacrificed Iraq for immigration amnesty?

It is 92 degrees in Washington, D.C., and even hotter on the Senate floor this afternoon. Senators have been forbidden to talk and debate. The job of Senators is primarily to talk and debate.

Reasonable amendments have been blocked in the interests of getting something out the door by Friday, June 29th. As I write this, Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) has raised his voice on the Senate floor asking why he can't even discuss his amendment and noting that his amendment has not been properly written.

Jim Boulet, Jr.

Executive Director

e-mail your comments and complaints to: jbouletATenglishfirst.org (replace AT with @)

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