Divided Senate Kills Immigration Bill

By ROBERT PEAR and CARL HULSE The New York Times

Published: Jun 29, 2007

WASHINGTON - President Bush's effort to overhaul the nation's immigration policy, a cornerstone of his domestic agenda, collapsed Thursday in the Senate, with little prospect that it can be revived before Bush leaves office in 19 months.

The bill called for the biggest changes to immigration law in more than 20 years, offering legal status to millions of illegal immigrants while trying to secure borders.

The Senate, forming blocs that ignored party affiliation, couldn't unite on the major provisions, however.

Rejecting the president's last-minute pleas, it voted 53-46 to turn back a motion to end debate and move toward final passage. Supporters fell 14 votes short of the 60 needed to close the debate.

Bush placed telephone calls to lawmakers throughout the morning. Members of his party abandoned him in droves, though, with just 12 of the 49 Senate Republicans sticking by him on the procedural vote that determined the fate of the bill.

Nearly one-third of Senate Democrats voted, in effect, to block action on the bill.

The vote followed an outpouring of criticism from conservatives and others who called it a form of amnesty for lawbreakers.

The outcome was a bitter disappointment for Bush and other supporters of a comprehensive approach, including Hispanic and church groups, and employers who had been seeking greater access to foreign workers.

Supporters and opponents said the measure was dead for the remainder of the Bush administration, though pieces could be revived.

The vote reflected the degree to which Congress and the nation are polarized over immigration. The emotional end to what had been an emotional debate was evident, with a few senior staff members who had invested months in writing the bill near tears.

"The bill now dies," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who helped write the measure.

The Lame Duck Effect

The outcome also underscored the challenge Bush faces in exerting authority and enacting an agenda as members of his party increasingly break with him and Democrats no longer fear him.

Having already given up on other ambitious second-term plans such as overhauling Social Security, the administration has little prospect of winning any big new legislative achievements in its final 19 months.

The collapse also highlighted the difficulties that the new Democratic leadership in Congress has had in showing that it can address the big problems facing the nation. In this case, Democratic leaders asserted that the failure of the immigration bill was a reflection on Bush and not on their party.

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who helped lead opposition to the bill, said: "The proponents did not get even a simple majority. The message is crystal-clear. The American people want us to start with enforcement at the border and at the workplace and don't want promises. They want action. They want results. They want proof, because they've heard all the promises before."

In voting to end the debate, the 12 Republicans were joined by 33 Democrats and one Independent. Voting against the motion to end the debate were 15 Democrats, one Independent and 37 Republicans, including the minority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

"I had hoped for a bipartisan accomplishment," McConnell said. "What we got was a bipartisan defeat."

Among the Democrats voting no were several up for re-election next year, including Sens. Max Baucus of Montana, Tom Harkin of Iowa and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia.

The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Bush had tried to round up votes, but "there just was not enough Republican support for the president's approach."

Depression And Jubilation

Bush, in Rhode Island for a visit to the Naval War College, said, "Legal immigration is one of the top concerns of the American people, and Congress' failure to act on it is a disappointment. A lot of us worked hard to see if we couldn't find common ground. It didn't work."

In the end, many of the groups who had supported segments of the bill urged the Senate to pass it in the hope that it could be "improved" in the House.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who is chairwoman of the House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, said, "It's a vote for the status quo, which most Americans are not satisfied with."

Opponents of the bill were elated.

"The American people won today," Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said. "They care enough for their country to get mad and to fight for it. Americans made phone calls and sent letters and convinced the Senate to stop this bill."

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said supporters of the bill wanted to pass it quickly, "before Rush Limbaugh could tell the American people what was in it."

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, chief Democratic architect of the bill, said many senators had "voted their fears, not their hopes."

Referring to opponents, Kennedy said, "We know what they don't like. What are they for? What are they going to do with the 12 million who are undocumented here? Send them back to countries around the world?"