CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY

April 11, 2005 – 7:51 p.m. 

Craig Reaches For Pledge Of Later Floor Action on Seasonal Farm Workers

By Seth Stern and Anne Plummer, CQ Staff

Sen. Larry E. Craig said Monday he will not offer an agricultural workers amendment to the $80.6 billion supplemental spending bill if Majority Leader Bill Frist commits to a specific date for floor consideration of a stand-alone version.

The move by the Idaho Republican is designed to forestall a flood of other immigration provisions delaying action on the supplemental spending bill (HR1268) to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Keeping Craig’s amendment off the supplemental has been a priority for supporters of provisions by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., R-Wis. They feared it would open floodgates to other riders. Craig expects to hear Tuesday about the offer.

According to Craig, House leaders opened the gates to unrelated immigration measures by including language in their version of the bill that would establish national driver’s license standards, stiffen asylum requirements and complete a fence on the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego. Frist, R-Tenn., has indicated he would prefer to consider those provisions separately.

The Senate parliamentarian ruled that Craig’s amendment, which would give amnesty to agricultural workers, is germane. Craig said he will drop the proposal if he receives a pledge that the measure will be on the floor soon. “Within a month or so would be acceptable to me,” he said.

Even if Craig backs off, Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., said Monday that she intends to offer an amendment that would exempt returning seasonal workers from the national cap of 66,000 H-2B visas.

And in an attempt to gain leverage during a conference between the two chambers, Senate Democrats could introduce as many as a dozen other immigration-relation measures. Among them is language designed to provide assistance to illegal immigrants seeking to attend college.

“It’s still very much up in the air at this time,” said Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.

Senate Republicans have shown little enthusiasm for including those immigration provisions on the supplemental. “This is not the place for comprehensive immigration reform,” Trent Lott, R-Miss., said Monday during a floor speech.

John Cornyn, R-Texas, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship Subcommittee, said he does not want the supplemental “to be a magnet for unrelated immigration issues.”

“I want those to go through the committee,” Cornyn said.

The September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, an organization composed of relatives of people who died in the 2001 terrorist attacks, and a coalition of religious organizations that oppose the asylum provisions are scheduled Tuesday morning to hold news conferences against the immigration language favored by House Republicans.

Thad Cochran, R-Miss., chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, introduced the supplemental spending bill Monday on the floor, but no amendments were offered. Members were not expected to start introducing amendments until Tuesday, and debate is expected to continue through the week.

Cochran and Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, urged swift passage of the bill. Stevens said the military needs the money in early May or it will be forced to dip into other accounts to cover the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — potentially hurting troop readiness.

Stevens also indicated a need to review the legislation in conference with the House because of conflicting priorities identified by President Bush and the two legislative chambers. The House pared Bush’s $82 billion request to $81.4 billion, favoring defense programs. The Senate, however, cut $2.4 billion of the $76.8 billion that the House recommended in spending on the military and restored some of the foreign aid funding.

“I think as matters continue here, we’re going to have to review the numbers of these bills and make sure we meet the pressing urgent needs of those who are wearing the uniform,” Stevens said