Senate expected to pass sweeping bill
The Senate bill, which incorporates ingredients of President Bush's proposal, combines enhanced border security measures, a guest worker program, and a path to citizenship for most of the 12 million undocumented immigrants who are now in the United States.
The bill's supporters said they expect an overwhelming vote in favor of the bill today, with a margin similar to Wednesday's 73-to-25 vote to close off debate.
Utah's two Republican senators, Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, voted for the measure.
The Senate leaders said they hoped the size of the majority in the Senate will convince House opponents that any immigration bill must include ways for undocumented immigrants to achieve legal status. This is a key difference between the two chambers.
"This creates major momentum for this legislation," said Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat, citing the surprisingly large number of senators supporting the bill. "Overwhelming bipartisan support for a common-sense, comprehensive immigration reform - this may be the most important vote that we cast 1/8this year 3/8 here in the United States Senate." -->
The bill's supporters received 13 more votes than the 60 needed to block a filibuster by a group of conservative Republicans — a margin that both Republicans and Democrats said was unthinkable before Bush's speech.
Still, House leaders remained adamantly opposed to legal status for those who entered the country illegally. They label this principle "amnesty."
The Senate bill may be significantly watered down before it could become law — possibly removing the ability for illegal immigrants to eventually become citizens. If not, the entire issue of immigration changes could ultimately die in stalled negotiations between the two legislative bodies.
With that possibility in mind, a group of influential Republican senators - including John McCain of Arizona, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, and Lindsey O. Graham of South Carolina - have begun meeting with rank-and-file Republican House members, to persuade them to support the Senate approach. The president's top political aide, Karl Rove, is holding similar meetings with other House members.
"The American people are liking what they see" in the Senate bill, Graham said at a press conference. "To those who believe that 1/8approving 3/8 no bill is a good answer, you're dead wrong. ... To do nothing is a political loser."
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