U.S. Senate passes immigration reform bill
Friday, May 26, 2006
The U.S. Senate today approved a comprehensive immigration reform bill Thursday by a vote of 62-36. Among other provisions, the bill seeks to bolster security along the U.S.-Mexican border, create a guest worker program, and grant many illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, all positions supported by the Bush administration.
The bill passed today by the Senate is in stark contrast to the version passed by the House of Representatives in December 2005, which provides for no guest worker program and makes illegal immigration a felony.
In a statement, President Bush said, "I look forward to working together with both the House of Representatives and the Senate to produce a bill for me to sign into law."
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist called for swift talks with the House to create a compromise measure. Frist, who had earlier supported the House version of the bill, voted in favor of the bill passed today. He expects that "the most contentious part" of the bill would be how to handle the status of illegal immigrants already in the United States.
While Democratic senators were mostly united in support of the bill (38-4 in favor), Republican support was divided (32-23 against). Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, said, "The vast majority of the 11 million or so people here will be given every benefit this nation can bestow as a product of their illegality. I don't think that's a good principle."
House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, acknowledged the difficulty in reaching a compromise, but expressed optimism that an agreement could be reached. "I'm hopeful that we will come to a resolution and pass a bill," he said.
Sources
[edit]- "Senate passes immigration bill" — CNN, May 25, 2006
- Associated Press. "Senate passes sweeping immigration bill" — MSNBC, May 25, 2006
- United States Senate. "S. 2611" —
- United States House of Rep.. "H.R. 4437" —
External links
[edit]- S. 2611, Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, Congressional Budget Office, May 16, 2006
This page has been automatically archived by a robot, and is no longer publicly editable.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators. Please note that the listed sources may no longer be available online. |