Thursday, July 06, 2006

Leadership on the Border Coming from the Senate?

This is great news. We have always known that we could count on House conservatives to block the amnesty bill in conference, but we were doubtful of any such leadership in the Senate. Well The Hill is reporting that Sen. Jim Demint (R-SC) and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Al) are placing a hold on the bill which will prevent it from even being submitted to committee:

"Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) have yet to sign off
on an elaborate parliamentary maneuver that would send the bill to
conference.
“I’m not sure a conference committee’s the right place to
rewrite” the bill, Sessions said last week. “I’m not sure that’s a smart way to
go.”

Meanwhile, there is now strong support for "enforcement first" in the Senate. It is being touted as the "Isackson Principle". The Hill writes:

"Sessions and DeMint have endorsed what is being called the “Isakson
principle” — a model, named for Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) that would predicate
any further immigration-law reforms on federal certification that the U.S.
border with Mexico is secure.
Supporters of the Isakson principle oppose the
Senate’s citizenship provisions but say they could negotiate guest-worker
provisions if the borders are secure.
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) said last
week that his position against the path to citizenship is “not
negotiable.”

Notice that DeMint, Chambliss, and Isackson are all new members of the Senate. The conservative leadership is coming from the solid candidates that were recently fielded in the South. Sessions or DeMint should be chosen to replace Frist as Majority Leader, not Trent Lott or Mitch McConnel.

No comments: