Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison joined with fellow Republicans to block Senate passage of the DREAM Act today, and both defend their no-votes.
Cornyn said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid "continues to play politics" with the proposal, which Texas' senators and many other Republican opponents have supported in the past.
Cornyn says border security and other aspects of immigration policy must come first.
"I am sympathetic to the plight of children who have no moral culpability for being in this country illegally and I support the intent of the bill today, but not this legislation and not this way," he said in a statement. "Despite years of objections this bill still allows illegal immigrants with criminal records to apply and receive benefits. It has never had a Senate committee hearing. It has not had any Senate committee process - of any kind - in seven years and Senator Reid refuses to allow any amendments. This is unacceptable and it is not the way to pass legislation.
"The DREAM Act is an important element in the larger immigration debate. A debate that Senate Democrats and President Obama - despite their campaign promises - have chosen to ignore in their pursuit of other policies they deemed more important. It deserves better than to be jammed through in the waning hours of a lame duck session of Congress."
Hutchison also defended her opposition.
"I could not support the DREAM Act legislation brought before the Senate today because it expanded the scope of the bill beyond the intended individuals who were brought here as children and grew up and were educated in the United States. Such serious legislation should be brought up in a time frame that allows for consideration, deliberation and consensus through full debate and amendments," she said in a statement.
The senators also voted against repeal of the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell -- it's a busy Saturday at the Capitol. That one passed a key test vote and is headed toward final approval this afternoon.
"With three of the four military service chiefs expressing clear reservations over the proposed repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, today's vote shows blatant disregard for the opinions of those who know our military best. With our troops engaged in combat overseas, now is not the time to increase the level of stress on our Armed Forces through such a dramatic policy change. It is a disgrace that this latest item from the liberal legislative wish-list is being jammed through at the expense of military readiness," Cornyn said.
Source: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/12/sen-john-cornyn-defends-no-vot.html
Governor politics cnn politics political jobs daily politics
No comments:
Post a Comment