You have amnesty backers on the run — keep pushing

From: Roy Beck, President, NumbersUSA

Date: Friday 22JUN07

You have amnesty backers on the run

“Personally, I find it difficult to call my Senators, but believe the calls are important. Here’s what I do to build my courage to call: I think about the men who have died for our country some in the most hellish ways – doing their duty – then I think about the Senators who are turning their back on the country these men died for, then I ask myself if I can do my duty to America this easy and painless way. It usually does the trick.”

———-Larry Nichols, Reno, Nevada
DEAR FRIENDS,

I’m including a number of signs that the constant phoning, faxing and visitations of Americans like you have the Kennedy/Bush Comprehensive Amnesty Bill on the ropes.
But I believe the White House when it boasts that it still can get its amnesty passed by the end of next week. See this from the Washington Times Thursday:
White House spokesman Tony Snow said the administration still expects to have the votes to pass the bill after “a pretty vigorous fight” over amendments in the Senate.

SENATE AMNESTY BILL HAS A NEW NUMBER — S. 1639

The S. 1348 amnesty bill that was voted down on cloture two weeks ago has been brought back to the Senate by Sen. Reid under a new number.It is S. 1639. The bill is the same legislation as amended two weeks ago.

TWO GEORGIA REPUBLICAN DRAFTERS OF AMNESTY BILL NOW OPPOSE IT

The two Georgia Republican Senators who were part of the Kennedy/White House backroom negotiations that created this bill in the first place have announced their intention to vote NO on cloture and the bill.This is a really big development. That now makes three of the Republicans on the negotiating team who have deserted the product.

Sen. Cornyn (R-Texas) stormed out of the negotiations just before they finished and is considered a solid NO vote, too.

Sen. Isakson (R-Ga.) and Sen. Chambliss (R-Ga.) had shocked a lot of us by standing with Sen. Kennedy (D-Mass.) when this backroom bill was unveiled last month. In the past, they had always stated their opposition to amnesties. But they and Sen. Kyl (R-Ga.) had convinced themselves that this grand compromise had enough enforcement to stop future illegal immigration

Republican Members of Congress who know the Georgia Senators say those Senators were genuinely shocked at the hailstorm of opposition they stirred among their state’s voters. They have been continuously barraged with outraged responses for a month now.

Isakson said he and Chambliss had heard from voters back home that they didn’t have faith in a measure that promises border action, because promises of past bills have yet to be fulfilled.

Amnesty leaders played down the defections. But the grand strategy to move this comprehensive amnesty had been to team the amnesty champions of Pres. Bush, Sen. Kennedy and Sen. McCain with anti-illegal-immigration Republicans who were highly respected among conservatives. They achieved their goal by getting Cornyn, Chambliss, Isakson and Kyl of Arizona to be full participants in the negotiations. Now only Kyl is left.

I cannot tell you how special it is to have two Senators say that they listened to their constituents’ lack of faith in the promises implied in the bill and decided that they agreed that the bill just didn’t have enough in it to ensure that the promises would be kept.

We have given Georgians action items to thank Isakson and Chambliss for their announcement of opposition.

ACTIONS IN BRIEF:

1. You have faxes you can send from your customized Action Buffet corkboard.

2. If you’ve never made a phone call to a Senator’s office, why not make a quick easy one now. Click on a phone note on your ACTION BUFFET and you’ll find easy-to-use talking points from which to choose even just one for a short call (and tips for how to talk on such a call).

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SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER NOW WOBBLY ABOUT BILL

The Associated Press wrote on Thursday:

The Senate’s Republican leader says he is unsure whether he will vote for the immigration bill President Bush strongly supports, underscoring the measure’s precarious status.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has long called for an immigration overhaul, saying the current situation is deeply flawed. And as the Senate minority leader, McConnell is central to shepherding legislation the president wants.

But in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, McConnell said he would not decide how to vote on the measure until a long series of amendments are disposed of next week.

“The bill on the merits is a mixed bag,” said McConnell, who had brushed aside reporters’ questions on immigration Tuesday and Wednesday. “I’m not uniformly enthusiastic about it.”

“At the end of the process,” he said, “we’re going to have to make a call as to whether this is an improvement over the status quo. I’m not ready to make that call yet.”

McConnell said it is unclear whether the bill’s supporters can muster the 60 votes eventually needed to allow a final roll call on the bill in the 100-member Senate….

“In the end, I frankly don’t know whether this thing will fly or not,” McConnell said. “But we will have given it our best shot.”

McConnell faces re-election next year in Kentucky. He and Sen. Lott (R-Miss.) led the way for the revival of the amnesty this week. But McConnell clearly doesn’t want to take responsibility for this. As I wrote on Thursday, McConnell’s credibility lies with whether he votes NO on the clotures. A NO vote on the final vote on the bill while voting YES on cloture will not free him of any responsibility for any passage that might happen.

AFL-CIO AND SOME HISPANIC GROUPS PUBLICLY ANNOUNCE OPPOSITION TO KENNEDY/BUSH AMNESTY BILL — a big opportunity for NumbersUSA faxers who are union members

“This takes a problem we have and, instead of solving it, makes it worse,” said Richard L. Trumka, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO. He said the temporary-worker program that the bill sets up would hurt U.S. workers by providing a source of cheap labor that would depress Americans’ wages.

“Let’s go back to the drawing board,” said Lillian Rodriguez-Lopez, president of the Hispanic Federation.

There are smaller unions and some big Hispanic groups that still support the bill. But these announcements Thursday give those of you with Democratic Senators a lot more to work with.

Now, these particular groups announcing their opposition are fighting the bill for reasons somewhat different from our own. But we can use that to our advantage.

I’m especially looking for all of you who are union members.

You can phone and fax with special authority and influence with Democratic Senators.

We will have special action notes on the corkboard of all who have identified themselves with unions.

If you haven’t taken the survey, you can always add and delete interests on the EDIT MY INTERESTS link at the top of your corkboard.

If you are now or have been in a union, please look at the directory on the left side of the INTERESTS opening page. Click on MEMBERSHIPS. Then, scroll down to the UNIONS section.

A lot of our actions are posted for people based on their special interests and identifications. You may want to go ahead and take the whole survey while you are at it.

Whether or not your union is in the AFL-CIO, its public opposition to the bill Thursday really opens the way for all union members to impress upon especially their Democratic Senators that this bill is bad for one of the most important constituencies of the Democratic Party.

One-fourth of the Democrats have already deserted Kennedy two weeks ago on this bill. But most of the the other three-fourths seem right now to be totally stubborn about passing this bill. Perhaps nobody can have as much influence in getting them to reconsider as union members if enough of them respond.

When you contact your Democratic Senators, tell them the precise names and numbers of your union locals. Tell the exact job you perform and company you work for (or worked for before you retired). These are the details that start to get staffers’ attention.

This is a time for union pride and pride in labor and a sincere request for Democrats to stand up for the working men and women of this country.

New Zogby poll finds most Americans recognize Kennedy/Bush bill as an amnesty — and don’t like it

A Zogby Interactive poll of 8,300 representative adults nationwide found only 38 percent supported the bill currently being considered by the Senate, while 56 percent opposed it.

The poll, commissioned by United Press International and carried out earlier this week, showed that opponents of the reform package appeared to have won the battle to define it: 65 percent of respondents agreed that “this bill represents amnesty for illegal immigrants.”

Americans rated immigration the second most important issue facing the country after the war in Iraq, and just ahead of healthcare, according to the poll.

Just 3 percent of Americans approved of Congress’s handling of the immigration issue and only 9 percent approved of the President’s.

Nearly two-thirds, 64 percent, wanted their representatives in Congress to support a more restrictive immigration regime, whereas only 26 percent wished they backed more open rules.

A large majority of respondents, 69 percent, believed that state and local authorities should be required to assist in enforcing U.S. immigration laws.

SOME FEEDBACK FROM YOU

“Great Job on getting the Amnesty bill stopped in May! Now let’s start working on getting our elected officials to enforce the existing laws! Stop the jobs and cut off welfare and free medical care, and I feel the majority will go home by themselves.”

———-Gary Franke, Cedar Park, Texas
“With your fax assistance and our telephone calls and e-mails to their web-sites, a lot of pressure was placed on Senators Bingaman & Domenici of New Mexico. Prior to this vote, they stood with the likes of Kennedy, McCain & others including President Bush who wanted this Immigration bill passed. The huge swell of New Mexican contacts apparently changed their way of thinking.”

———-Paul L. Balaich, Alamogordo, New Mexico
“Thank you for being ground zero on the immigration issue. Without you and the other organizations like yours the grassroots of America would have been totally ignored, if they even had a way of knowing what S. 1348 was before it became law. The latest skirmish was won, but the war is not over. We listened to your virtual rally (on the conference phone call) and it helped further convince my husband and I that what we have been doing, and what you have been doing is worthwhile and is accomplishing our goals.”

———-Glenda and Warren Cooper, Craig, Colorado
“Thank you and your staff, especially Rosemary Jenks, for doing a wonderful job and helping Americans stop S. 1348. You and your staff were on top of things at all times. Your e-mails were inspirational and kept the members informed of the workings of Congress. Your faxes were articulate and right on target. The Senate Vote Day Action Center with the Numbers USA recommendations for each amendment to S. 1348 was our windows to the proceedings in Congress. You and the staff at NumbersUSA are terrific.”

———-Barbara Riese, Granada Hills, Calif.
“After watching the video that was available on your web site today I sent the link to your video to 57 friends commending your organization for the work you have done and are doing on the immigration issue. I also indicated your organization was worthy of their financial support as well as their time to send the faxes you provide and make the requested calls.”

———-L.D. Jake Jacobson, Draper, Utah
“I just wanted to thank all of you, but especially Roy for the work he has done to help us as Americans participate in our government. I’m a senior, and I am recovering from a fall and shattered shoulder, so I have been out of the mainstream for a while. I live on disability; my financial contributions have not been what I would have liked them to be. But I do the faxing and phoning that you make available to us. THANK YOU, and know you are prayed for.”

———-Betty Achterhoff, Holland, Michigan
“I just want to thank you for all of your hard work and for making these alerts so easy to make our representatives hear us. I think you have shown many constituents that they can make a difference and to get involved. I, for one, am very grateful to you. We will win this fight! By the way, I have been a strong supporter of Bush; but not anymore. Any future President that gets my vote will lock down the borders and get the illegals outtahere!”

———-Mary Archer, Anderson, Calif.
“I wanted to tell you that I’ve called my congressmen’s local offices as well as their Washington offices this week. The aides I’ve spoken to have agreed with most everything I’ve said and they were very polite. I’ve also faxed and emailed them. We have to persevere! We can’t let our children and grandchildren down!”

———-Marianne Blevins, Lawrenceville, Georgia
THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO USE YOUR PRECIOUS TIME TO PHONE AND FAX AND ENLIST OTHERS IN THE FIGHT FOR AN IMMIGRATION POLICY THAT PROTECTS OUR QUALITY OF LIFE, ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY WHILE ALLOWING FOR ECONOMIC JUSTICE AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

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Tags: amnesty, cloture, Senator, S. 1348, S. 1639, Republican, Democrat, White House, Bush