Thursday, June 07, 2007

Sessions a Hero   [Kate O'Beirne]

Majority Leader Reid, with plenty of Republican complicity, wants unanimous consent to dispense with 6 amendments to the immigration bill in 45 minutes this afternoon.  The hope is that the cloture vote to end debate at 5 will then be successful.  Senator Sessions is strongly objecting because that would allow too little time to understand fully each amendment and to debate their merits.  The fast-track this legislation has been on has denied an opportunity to consider it fully and modify it thoughtfully.  It by-passed the committee process.  In committee last year, 60 amendments to the McCain-Kennedy bill were voted on.  The fear is that the "fix" is in, with the compromise coalition and the White House fashioning some complicated amendment that will eliminate some conservative improvements, and fix the Dorgan amendment that jeopardizes GOP support.  The bipartisan deal must survive!

06/07 03:21 PMShare