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Vitter stands against Kennedy-McCain-Bush amnesty
By: Benjamin Amis | Submitted on: 06/04/07EDITORIAL - Recently on the Senate floor, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., took a stand against the Kennedy-Bush comprehensive amnesty bill (S. 1348) by submitting an amendment that would have eliminated all amnesty-related portions of the legislation.
Vitter had submitted the same type of amendment before the Senate passed the S. 2611 Amnesty bill where it garnered less support. It failed 29-66. However, this means that if only seven senators who voted ‘no’ had voted ‘yes’, amnesty-related portions of the bill would have been removed and thrown aside.
Another encouraging point for anti-amnesty advocates was the effort of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who usually carries the weight for the President’s amnesty bill but voted for the amendment.
Perhaps this also means the Senator will vote against the overall bill? As a Kentuckian, I’ve already sent him a message thanking him for his vote for the amendment, and encouraged him to vote against cloture, which will occur sometime after the Senate returns from their Memorial Recess on June 4th.
It’s also noteworthy to mention that while 20 Republicans voted for the amendment, they were joined by 9 Democrats. Last time, only 2 Democrats voted with 31 Republicans. This change is attributed to several different reasons.
One is that two of them defeated conservative Republicans in the 2006 elections and promised in their campaigns to oppose amnesty. Sen. McCaskill, D-Mo., and Sen. Tester, D-Mont., lived up to their promises on the Senate floor that day.
Three of the senators are gearing up for elections and voted for the amendment this time, but not the last time. That would be Senators Pryor, D-Ark., Landrieu, D-La., and Baucus. D-Mont. Apparently these senators feel like the anti-amnesty crowd constitutes a decent bloc of voters.
Sen. Rockefeller, D-W.Va., who missed last year’s vote due to illness and has a pro-amnesty record, voted for the amendment. He is also up for re-election in 2008.
Several senators did not vote, those being Brownback, R-Kan., Hatch, R-Utah, Johnson, D-S. Dakota, Schumer, D- New York, and Thomas, R-Wyo. It is believed that these senators would’ve voted against the amendment.
Information about this bill can be found through the Library of Congress’ website, www.thomas.gov. Select “bill number” and search for S. 1348, this will bring up all action and versions of the bill, including all recorded votes concerning it.
Vitter had submitted the same type of amendment before the Senate passed the S. 2611 Amnesty bill where it garnered less support. It failed 29-66. However, this means that if only seven senators who voted ‘no’ had voted ‘yes’, amnesty-related portions of the bill would have been removed and thrown aside.
Another encouraging point for anti-amnesty advocates was the effort of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who usually carries the weight for the President’s amnesty bill but voted for the amendment.
Perhaps this also means the Senator will vote against the overall bill? As a Kentuckian, I’ve already sent him a message thanking him for his vote for the amendment, and encouraged him to vote against cloture, which will occur sometime after the Senate returns from their Memorial Recess on June 4th.
It’s also noteworthy to mention that while 20 Republicans voted for the amendment, they were joined by 9 Democrats. Last time, only 2 Democrats voted with 31 Republicans. This change is attributed to several different reasons.
One is that two of them defeated conservative Republicans in the 2006 elections and promised in their campaigns to oppose amnesty. Sen. McCaskill, D-Mo., and Sen. Tester, D-Mont., lived up to their promises on the Senate floor that day.
Three of the senators are gearing up for elections and voted for the amendment this time, but not the last time. That would be Senators Pryor, D-Ark., Landrieu, D-La., and Baucus. D-Mont. Apparently these senators feel like the anti-amnesty crowd constitutes a decent bloc of voters.
Sen. Rockefeller, D-W.Va., who missed last year’s vote due to illness and has a pro-amnesty record, voted for the amendment. He is also up for re-election in 2008.
Several senators did not vote, those being Brownback, R-Kan., Hatch, R-Utah, Johnson, D-S. Dakota, Schumer, D- New York, and Thomas, R-Wyo. It is believed that these senators would’ve voted against the amendment.
Information about this bill can be found through the Library of Congress’ website, www.thomas.gov. Select “bill number” and search for S. 1348, this will bring up all action and versions of the bill, including all recorded votes concerning it.
Benjamin Amis has been a freelance writer and blogger for several years and is a recent high school graduate. He occasionally writes for his own sites which include Christian and political blogs, as well as Christ-centered essays. Ben lives in Kentucky.
