06/08/2007
On June 7, the U.S. Senate postponed further action on the comprehensive immigration reform bill following two failed procedural votes. Had these motions passed, debate on the package would have been limited, and a final vote on the legislation would have occurred within a few days.
Senators from both sides of the aisle objected to limiting debate because they did not want to force or rush passage of the bill. These senators believed that not enough time had been given to the consideration of amendments. There were several hundred amendments offered but only a few were debated and voted on. The immigration bill was ultimately delayed because many senators believed that they did not get to debate and vote on a reasonable number of amendments. There remains a bipartisan effort to continue work on the bill, and there is a good chance that it will come up for debate again soon. The Senate next plans to take up debate on an energy bill.
NFIB will take advantage of the break in debate on the immigration bill to continue to advocate for a more workable electronic employer verification system, an expansion of the legal guest worker programs, as well as increased border security.
