A Mexican broke into the CNN offices and wrote:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate leaders reached a deal Thursday on reviving a broad immigration bill that could provide millions of illegal immigrants a chance to become American citizens and said they'll try to pass it before Memorial Day.
The agreement brokered by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, and Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, breaks a political stalemate that has lingered for weeks while immigrants and their supporters held rallies, boycotts and protests to push for action.
Key to the agreement is who will be negotiating a compromise with the House, which last December passed an enforcement-only bill that would subject the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States to felony charges as well as deportation.
[...]
Reid acknowledged on the Senate floor Thursday morning that he "didn't get everything that I wanted" in the agreement, but said Frist didn't either. Reaching the agreement is "not easy with the political atmosphere," Reid said.
Reid had been taking some criticism for refusing to move forward on the bill after complaining that Republicans were trying to undermine it with amendments and insisting that Democrats be allowed to have a say in who serves on the conference committee.
Republicans, too, have had opposition from conservatives to the compromise proposal. These critics consider its path to citizenship provision for illegal immigrants and hundreds of thousands of future guest workers to be tantamount to "amnesty."
[...]
The compromise bill the Senate will consider builds on legislation approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee 12-8, with six Republicans voting and all Democrats approving the measure.
That measure absorbed a bill drafted by McCain and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, that called for allowing illegal immigrants to work toward becoming legal permanent residents.
President Bush had helped accelerate progress on the bill after meeting with a bipartisan group of senators last month and stating clearer support for allowing illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.
The agreement brokered by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, and Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, breaks a political stalemate that has lingered for weeks while immigrants and their supporters held rallies, boycotts and protests to push for action.
Key to the agreement is who will be negotiating a compromise with the House, which last December passed an enforcement-only bill that would subject the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States to felony charges as well as deportation.
[...]
Reid acknowledged on the Senate floor Thursday morning that he "didn't get everything that I wanted" in the agreement, but said Frist didn't either. Reaching the agreement is "not easy with the political atmosphere," Reid said.
Reid had been taking some criticism for refusing to move forward on the bill after complaining that Republicans were trying to undermine it with amendments and insisting that Democrats be allowed to have a say in who serves on the conference committee.
Republicans, too, have had opposition from conservatives to the compromise proposal. These critics consider its path to citizenship provision for illegal immigrants and hundreds of thousands of future guest workers to be tantamount to "amnesty."
[...]
The compromise bill the Senate will consider builds on legislation approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee 12-8, with six Republicans voting and all Democrats approving the measure.
That measure absorbed a bill drafted by McCain and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, that called for allowing illegal immigrants to work toward becoming legal permanent residents.
President Bush had helped accelerate progress on the bill after meeting with a bipartisan group of senators last month and stating clearer support for allowing illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.
Not looking to debate immigration for the -nth time, but thought it was good news that some progress is again being made. I think that passing it by Memorial Day is a bit optimistic though. I'm sure everyone will be looking to put a feather in their cap for mid-terms though.
