THE HILL (Washington, D.C.)

June 8, 2006

Conservatives block immigration conference

By Jonathan Allen

Senate conservatives have emerged as the chief obstacle to an immigration conference committee, but the bill’s backers insist they will be able to get around the hard-liners.

GOP leaders need the assent of the conservatives to circumvent a parliamentary hurdle arising from the bill’s inclusion of tax provisions, which, according to the Constitution, must originate in the House. Conservatives have yet to sign off.

“I’m not anxious to move it to conference,” Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), chairman of the conservative Republican Steering Committee, said yesterday. “The more we study the final product, the more convinced I am that it is seriously flawed.”

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said that he would think about being helpful to the leadership but that he’d “consider trying to block it, too.”

The Senate passed its version of immigration legislation last month. The bill would bolster border security, create a “path to citizenship” for illegal aliens currently in the country and establish a guest-worker program.

Many on the right would prefer a version more like the House bill, which focuses solely on strengthening border security.

A thicket of procedural snags has prevented the appointment of conference negotiators to this point.

If the Senate bill is sent to the House, it would be subject to a “blue slip” — a vote of the House to reject it because it violates the Constitution’s “origination” clause on tax matters. The easiest way around a blue slip is for the Senate to take up a House-passed tax bill, strip out the existing provisions, insert the immigration bill into its shell and pass it.

But Republican leaders have been unable to win unanimous consent to execute the maneuver, and such a complex series of moves would give opponents several filibuster opportunities. While cautiously covering their flanks, Republican and Democratic leaders are working to get the bill to conference.

The bill’s supporters say that if they can make significant progress on a deal they will be able to overcome their opposition.

“I think we’re making progress,” Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) said yesterday. “We’re not there yet.”

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), a harsh critic of the Senate bill, said yesterday that he will not block efforts to move to conference.

“I want a bill,” Ensign said.

“You’ve got to have a conference,” said Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.). “If it comes out close to this [Senate bill], we’ll do everything to kill it.”