BUSH BACKPEDALING ON AMNESTY?
By malkin
At The Tar Pit, Sabertooth thinks President Bush may be backing down on amnesty. That speculation is based on Rep. Tom DeLay's statement in this New York Times article:
nytimes.com
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 - Representative Tom DeLay of Texas, the House majority leader, said Tuesday that conservatives might be able to compromise with President Bush on his proposal allowing illegal immigrants to work in the United States legally.
Such a compromise could entail, for example, requiring illegal immigrants to return to their native countries to apply for the program, Mr. DeLay said.
Mr. DeLay said he talked recently with the president, who has advocated a guest worker program that would be open to workers who are currently in the country illegally as well as to newcomers.
"He doesn't discount the notion, for instance, that you have to apply for it in your country of origin," Mr. DeLay said of the president. "He thought that was a great idea."
Lots of other good stuff at The Tar Pit, including this post about an effort by Sens. John McCain and Larry Craig to thwart Rep. James Sensenbrenner's proposed legislation for federal standards for state drivers licenses.
McCain and Craig seek to thwart anti-illegal alien drivers license measure
Republican Senators John McCain (Arizona) and Larry Craig (Idaho) have threatened to introduce illegal alien Amnesty amendments against legislation by House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-Winconsin) for federal standards for state drivers licenses. Sensenbrenners legislation that would require the federal government disallow the use, for federal identification purposes, of drivers licenses from states that willingly issue them to illegal aliens.
Here is an excerpt from a Human Events Online interview with Congressman Sensenbrenner about his illegal alien drivers license reform:
Human Events: Is it true that this bill, if the House passes it, will be attached to the supplemental spending bill that will have the $80 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan?
SENSENBRENNER: That's the first must-pass bill, and I believe it will.
Human Events: And there's a risk that that might cause people in the Senate to try to debate this as you guys holding money for Iraq and Afghanistan hostage to your particular driver's license/immigration concern?
SENSENBRENNER: The Senate can say what it wants to. I hope they will recognize that over 90% of the American public does not want illegal aliens to have driver's licenses, and recognize that the current immigration system has been exploited by those who wish to do us harm.
Human Events: Last week, about when you announced this bill, Sen. Larry Craig, a Republican from Idaho, said if it were attached to that supplemental bill, that bill would become fair game for immigration provisions, including so-called "guest-worker" visas, which he promotes. Sen. John McCain also said if that were the case, it would open up a possible overall debate on immigration reform. Are you worried that your proposal, even if it gets through the House, could be held hostage to some sort of negotiation to try to get the President's immigration reform/amnesty through Congress?
SENSENBRENNER: I hope that the senators will realize that it is important to have the issues of border security and immigration separated. And by attempting to attach issues like Sen. Craig's amnesty for agricultural workers provision, and Sen. McCain's broader bill, to this will mean that the entire debate on immigration will end up being confused with the border security issues.
The claim is often made by pro Amnesty politicians like McCain and Craig that we must legalize illegal aliens in the interests of security. The claim is, at best, debatable. Yet here they are seeking to maintain lax federal standards for what form of identification enables a person to board an airplane in the United States. On September 11, 2001, all of the jihadist hijackers used state drivers licenses to board their airplanes and murder thousands of Americans, even though a number of them had overstayed their visas before obtaining those licenses. Many states, fearing the illegal alien lobby, sill have not closed such loopholes for non-residents. In spite of this, McCain and Craig are willing to enable future attacks unless they are able to foist the legalization of illegal aliens on the American people.
So, how seriously should we take the commitments of McCain and Craig to America's Homeland Security? thetarpit.blogspot.com |
