SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS July 27, 2007 Senate OKs border bill
WASHINGTON — Less than a month after failing to pass an immigration reform bill, the Senate approved legislation Thursday to crack down on border security with $3 billion to add new agents and fully fund 700 miles of fence on the U.S.-Mexico border. The Senate voted 89-1 to add the Republican-backed border security language to a $38 billion spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security. "This funding will not only put more boots on the ground at our borders, but it will also provide additional resources for law enforcement to remove dangerous felons who are here illegally," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. A bipartisan accord was reached after Democrats defeated an initial Republican amendment. Republicans blocked a Democratic alternative. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Cornyn, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary panel's immigration subcommittee, hammered out a compromise, which allowed the amendment to pass overwhelmingly. Language inserted into the bill by Cornyn gave federal officials more latitude to remove immigrants who overstay their visas — the method used by many of the 19 terrorists who hijacked passenger jets in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The bill also fully funds 700 miles of fence, and 300 miles of vehicle barriers that Republican lawmakers said are essential to gaining control of the Southwest border. The border fence is largely opposed in South Texas, where local officials and landowners complain that the Border Patrol has failed to consult with them on where structures will be built, and how the government will compensate land owners. Cornyn said he is asking for a government study to determine the impact of the fence on private property owners, and he is seeking technological alternatives for the fence in some areas. Environmentalists have called the fence a farce, while farmers and ranchers say a barrier on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande would cut off their access to water. South Texas officials say construction of a border "wall" could negatively impact the regional economy. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, the lone lawmaker to vote against the measure, called the whole $3 billion border security amendment in the homeland security bill a "charade" by Congress to convince Americans that lawmakers are serious about solving the immigration problem. "This is the type of game playing that has caused our approval ratings to slump to all-time lows," Voinovich said. President Bush has vowed to veto the homeland security spending bill, not because of the border security measures, but because it includes $5.2 billion more than his request to Congress. He has urged Congress to cut excessive spending. But conservative Republicans said the inclusion of the border security funds would help garner GOP support to override a presidential veto. The House passed its $37.4 billion version of the homeland security spending bill in June without a veto-proof vote. It included $8.8 billion for border security, including $1 billion for border fencing. Differences between the two versions of the spending bill will be ironed out in a House-Senate conference committee. Specifically, the Senate bill would add 14,500 new Customs and Border Patrol agents through fiscal year 2012, increasing their numbers to about 30,000 agents overall. It would prohibit cities from banning the practices of checking immigration status on criminal suspects by local law enforcement officials. The bill would deny immigration benefits to felons, gang members, terrorists, sex offenders and child abusers. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who led efforts to pass a compromise immigration reform bill earlier this year, said the border security legislation is stripped down to achieve a consensus. Some lawmakers said that tackling border security could pave the way for an agreement later on sticking points — like offering earned legalization to 12 million people in this country illegally. The Senate immigration bill crumbled last month after conservative talk-show radio hosts and grass-roots groups blitzed lawmakers with e-mail, telephone calls and letters in opposition to legalization efforts that they labeled an amnesty. The bill — the first comprehensive reform of immigration laws in two decades — also lost Democratic support when labor unions opposed guest worker provisions, and minority rights groups complained that guest workers would be denied benefits that included citizenship. Cornyn led efforts by Senate Republicans to kill the compromise bill. He called the border security amendment in the homeland security spending bill a "down payment" to gain operational control of the border and give Americans confidence that Congress can tackle the problem of illegal immigration.
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