Sensenbrenner: Amnesty and Anger

Jim Sensenbrenner is mad; and he has no qualms about making his feelings known.

Washington -- Complaining that President Bush "doesn't get it" on immigration, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner blasted the White House on Wednesday, saying that Bush has provoked a firestorm by endorsing amnesty for illegal immigrants.

"What he is proposing is amnesty," said the Menomonee Falls legislator, using a politically loaded label that Bush has repeatedly disputed.

...Sensenbrenner said that if Bush intended in his Monday night speech on immigration to mollify him and other conservatives by floating tough border provisions, "he failed in that completely."

"I was very disappointed in the speech. I think he doesn't get it," said the powerful committee chairman, who is likely to lead the House side in negotiations with the Senate, should senators approve an immigration bill this month.

Sensenbrenner said the White House has irritated him and others by seemingly "running away" from the immigration bill that the House passed in December. Sensenbrenner crafted that measure, whose get-tough provisions have sparked mass protests.

"He basically turned his back on provisions of the House bill, a lot of which we were requested to put in the bill by the White House," Sensenbrenner said.

Sensenbrenner is obviously frustrated with President Bush's proposed middle ground measures to deal with the illegal immigration problem.

Sensenbrenner clearly believes that the White House caved. He's definitely expressing a sense of betrayal.

...A White House spokesman said Wednesday that the administration stands by the statement it issued on the House measure in December. The statement said the administration "strongly supports provisions in the bill that would crack down on alien smuggling and unlawful entry into the United States."

The aide also took issue with Sensenbrenner's comments about amnesty.

"The president has repeatedly and forcefully rejected amnesty," White House spokesman Alex Conant said.

"Under the president's plan, you have to pay stiff fines, follow the law, stay employed, learn English, and after achieving all those things, you still go to the back of the line. That's not amnesty."

It's not feasible to propose mass deportations, but it's also not realistic to assume that the millions of illegals already in the country will voluntarily submit to all the requirements necessary to become citizens.

Why get in the back of the line when you've already passed through and you're not in line anymore at all?

Illegals currently being educated and receiving health care and other services funded by U.S. tax dollars have no incentive to follow the rules and cooperate.

...Although Bush previously had signaled his support for a citizenship provision, he embraced the idea unambiguously in his prime-time speech Monday, saying that illegal immigrants who have been in the United States longer "should be able to apply for citizenship, but approval would not be automatic, and they will have to wait in line behind those who played by the rules and followed the law."

The Senate endorsed the citizenship provisions Wednesday by a roughly 2-to-1 vote.

"It's not amnesty," Arizona Republican John McCain said on the Senate floor. "Call it amnesty. Call it a banana if you want to. But the fact is it is earned citizenship. It is a perversion of the word amnesty."

Sensenbrenner was similarly adamant in his disdain for the term earned citizenship, and in his view, what Bush is discussing "is an amnesty because it allows people who have broken the law to stay in the country."

Agreeing on the meaning of words can be so messy sometimes.

How does one define "amnesty" or "earned citizenship" or "banana"?

It's semantics.

...Sensenbrenner also voiced little enthusiasm for the major security initiative in Bush's speech, a temporary deployment of National Guard troops to back up border agents.

"If the Guard is used to build the fences, that is a great thing for the Guard to do," he said. "But we've got to recognize the Guard is already overstretched."

Sensenbrenner said of Bush's address that "the speech I heard looked like it was something put together by focus groups."

I don't understand this disapproval of using the National Guard to assist in securing the border.

It wouldn't be a cure-all, but every little bit helps.

I think Sensenbrenner's crack about Bush's speech sounding like it was the product of focus groups is pretty funny and legitimate, too.

The address did seem to strain to pacify the masses.

However, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes you just have to go with what you can get. I don't think that's selling out. I think it's a smart move.

I guess a very fine line separates productive compromise aimed to achieve results and appeasement of law-breakers.

...Sensenbrenner said that because any Senate bill is going to be dramatically different from the House measure, it "is going to require a lot of very delicate negotiations."

Sensenbrenner said he thinks a compromise could include provisions for temporary workers, if "that does not include an amnesty," and only if it includes "vigorous" enforcement of sanctions against employers for hiring illegal immigrants.

...As for Bush, he said: "I respect him. I respect his office. I think he's wrong on this."

I admire Sensenbrenner for having the courage to act on principle and for not playing political games with our national security. Instead of kowtowing to special interests, he's looking out for the American taxpayer and attempting to alleviate some of the pressure on our educational, health, and welfare systems as a result of supporting millions of illegals.

He's not anti-immigration. He's anti-illegal immigration.

I understand Sensenbrenner's frustration with all the disingenuousness and the posturing by politicians eager to appeal to illegal immigrants. Rather than showing some backbone, they are quick to bend to unreasonable demands and conditions that would have detrimental consequences for our country.

I have no respect for spineless politicians. But I also see that it's necessary to be flexible.

Sensenbrenner has to be willing to compromise. At the moment, he doesn't appear to be in the mood. That's a mistake.

It's better to accomplish some good than to accomplish nothing.