UPDATE:
Well, Senator Gregg has his statement ready to go:
WASHINGTON– U.S. Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) today made the following statement regarding today’s cloture vote on the immigration bill.
U.S. Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) stated, “The immigration situation in this country is a mess and this bill, which was a work in progress, was our last opportunity in the foreseeable future to take the action necessary to fix this acute problem.
Bullcrap….the only thing that would make that statement true is a lack of political will. Frankly, the only thing that has to be done to "fix" this problem is if our political leaders had HAD the political will to make sure that the CURRENT laws had been enforced….and Senator Gregg has been around long enough to have helped out.
It is critical that we get control of our borders, and as a result of language that I included in my amendment, this bill would have dramatically increased the number of border patrol agents and detention beds, and expanded the fencing at the Southern border at a level that would allow us to gain control there.
Fine and dandy…..why cannot he take that now-boilerplate and submit that as a brand new bill? Is there a rule that says once words have been used, they are automatically unusable in the future (oh wait, they just TRIED that!)?
“In addition, we need a functioning guest worker program that allows people to come here and work in jobs that Americans are not available to do, without becoming U.S. citizens.
I only have to bring up the Swift meatpacking plants where illegals were rousted to prove this straw man toast. THE NEXT DAY, legal American workers were lining up to apply….and the plants were forced to pay higher wages to boot (notice: higher wages – didja get the clue?).
We also need an employer ID system that makes it clear that when an employee is hired, he or she is here legally.
Tell you what….start fining (we’re talking BIG fines) businesses that break the laws like the illegals they employ, and this will start to be a non-problem. Make them big enough to bite into profit margins and presto! Problem gone.
Jail time wouldn’t hurt either…..in terms of years, not days.
Also critical, this legislation would have moved our immigration system forward to encourage capable and highly trained individuals to come to America and contribute to strengthening our economy and culture. Each of these issues was taken up and addressed in this bill.
We already have that in our current laws…..just stop letting people wade across the Rio Grande and the percentages will flip to the highly educated and skilled workers.
“That said, I would have opposed the bill as currently drafted because it still had some serious flaws, and it had a long way to go before it was in an acceptable form that could have been passed. I was hopeful that we could continue to work to make improvements to this bill and move this important debate forward through the amendment process. However, this approach is no longer available and we will need to find other means to secure our borders and create a workable immigration system.”
This is the most egregious part – "I was for this war before I was against it….er, against it…for it…". Even if Senator Sununu was personally in favor of this bill, at least he had the courage of his political convictions to vote straight through. I’d also say the same for McCain and Graham (although they are both DESPERATELY wrong on this issue, IMHO).
Stand up, take it like a man, and stop the flip-flopping….it makes you sound like Senator Kerry.
=========================
Well, this battle is over, but the war is probably not. The vote for cloture (to close off debate) failed. With that, Majority Leader Reid has said he will pull the bill. The shamnesty is dead…..for now.
How did our Senators from NH vote? Well, here’s the complete list, but for Gregg and Sununu:
Senator Gregg (R-NH) Yea
Senator Sununu (R-NH) Nay
Translation – Sununu effectively voted to kill the bill. Gregg voted to keep the amnesty bill alive.
Our motto at the ‘Grok is to spank them when they’re wrong and thank ’em when they’re right. Thus:
THANK YOU SENATOR SUNUNU!!!!!
Now, where’s that paddle…..
Note: I found it amusing that the Senate phone system crashed from all of the incoming calls. I tried calling Gregg’s office a couple of times, then switched to NH offices….I had to call three of his offices before I got through. I was polite (no need to be otherwise) and told the lady who answered that I would appreciate the Senator to vote to kill the bill. I asked if he announced his decision (this was about a half hour before the vote) and she said that he had not told them what he was going to do.
I’m quite sure that we’ll talk about this on Meet The New Press this Saturday – consider this an open invitation to both Senators Gregg and Sununu to call in (or, better yet, come to the studio) for the show!
Complete list, last name alphabetical order, after the jump
Alphabetical by Senator Name
| Akaka (D-HI), Yea Alexander (R-TN), Nay Allard (R-CO), Nay Barrasso (R-WY), Nay Baucus (D-MT), Nay Bayh (D-IN), Nay Bennett (R-UT), Yea Biden (D-DE), Yea Bingaman (D-NM), Nay Bond (R-MO), Nay Boxer (D-CA), Yea Brown (D-OH), Nay Brownback (R-KS), Nay Bunning (R-KY), Nay Burr (R-NC), Nay Byrd (D-WV), Nay Cantwell (D-WA), Yea Cardin (D-MD), Yea Carper (D-DE), Yea Casey (D-PA), Yea Chambliss (R-GA), Nay Clinton (D-NY), Yea Coburn (R-OK), Nay Cochran (R-MS), Nay Coleman (R-MN), Nay Collins (R-ME), Nay Conrad (D-ND), Yea Corker (R-TN), Nay Cornyn (R-TX), Nay Craig (R-ID), Yea Crapo (R-ID), Nay DeMint (R-SC), Nay Dodd (D-CT), Yea Dole (R-NC), Nay |
Domenici (R-NM), Nay Dorgan (D-ND), Nay Durbin (D-IL), Yea Ensign (R-NV), Nay Enzi (R-WY), Nay Feingold (D-WI), Yea Feinstein (D-CA), Yea Graham (R-SC), Yea Grassley (R-IA), Nay Gregg (R-NH), Yea Hagel (R-NE), Yea Harkin (D-IA), Nay Hatch (R-UT), Nay Hutchison (R-TX), Nay Inhofe (R-OK), Nay Inouye (D-HI), Yea Isakson (R-GA), Nay Johnson (D-SD), Not Voting Kennedy (D-MA), Yea Kerry (D-MA), Yea Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea Kohl (D-WI), Yea Kyl (R-AZ), Yea Landrieu (D-LA), Nay Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea Leahy (D-VT), Yea Levin (D-MI), Yea Lieberman (ID-CT), Yea Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Lott (R-MS), Yea Lugar (R-IN), Yea Martinez (R-FL), Yea McCain (R-AZ), Yea McCaskill (D-MO), Nay |
McConnell (R-KY), Nay Menendez (D-NJ), Yea Mikulski (D-MD), Yea Murkowski (R-AK), Nay Murray (D-WA), Yea Nelson (D-FL), Yea Nelson (D-NE), Nay Obama (D-IL), Yea Pryor (D-AR), Nay Reed (D-RI), Yea Reid (D-NV), Yea Roberts (R-KS), Nay Rockefeller (D-WV), Nay Salazar (D-CO), Yea Sanders (I-VT), Nay Schumer (D-NY), Yea Sessions (R-AL), Nay Shelby (R-AL), Nay Smith (R-OR), Nay Snowe (R-ME), Yea Specter (R-PA), Yea Stabenow (D-MI), Nay Stevens (R-AK), Nay Sununu (R-NH), Nay Tester (D-MT), Nay Thune (R-SD), Nay Vitter (R-LA), Nay Voinovich (R-OH), Nay Warner (R-VA), Nay Webb (D-VA), Nay Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea Wyden (D-OR), Yea |
