Imperial President Visits Imperious Senate
Press Release / Federation for American Immigration Reform
WASHINGTON -- Despite being soundly rejected by the American public, President Bush has signaled his determination to enact a massive illegal alien amnesty and guest worker program by making a rare visit to Capitol Hill today. The president met today with Republican legislators in an effort to pressure them into reviving a bill that would grant amnesty to 12 million or more illegal aliens and create a massive new guest worker program before border security and other enforcement measures are in place.
Since being unveiled on May 17, the Senate immigration legislation, which was negotiated by a dozen senators behind closed doors with no public hearings, has generated unprecedented public opposition, with some members reporting that their office switchboards had to be shut down. The overwhelming public opposition to mass amnesty, an inability to offer meaningful amendments, and a truncated debate schedule led many Republicans and some Democrats to block a vote on the bill last week. Nevertheless, President Bush still refuses to accept the judgment of the American public and is stubbornly determined to force through his illegal alien amnesty and guest worker proposal over their objections.
"President Bush's arm-twisting visit to Capitol Hill today is a graphic illustration of why this administration has moved from policy disaster to policy disaster over the past six and half years," commented Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). "The president consistently fails to listen to anyone, including the American public, and routinely ignores facts and evidence when they contradict his personal goals."
On a day when a front page story in "The New York Times" reported that "The Grass Roots Roared" its opposition to his amnesty/guest worker proposal, President Bush responded with a dictatorial retort, "I'll see you at the bill signing." Immediately upon his return from the G-8 summit in Europe, the president made his first visit to a meeting of GOP legislators in five years in an effort to pressure senators into passing his amnesty bill.
"President Bush's arrogant response in the face of vehement public opposition is the reason he has lost the confidence of the American people," Stein noted. "The senators who blocked this hasty and ill-conceived immigration bill from coming to the floor ultimately listened to their constituents and acted in the public interest. It is difficult for members of Congress to ignore the personal pleas of a sitting president -- even an unpopular lame duck president -- but there are no cosmetic changes that can be made to this legislation that would make it acceptable to the American public, or correct the countless gaping flaws that would jeopardize the security of the nation and the continued existence of the middle class.
"The American public demanded that this bill be killed, and their elected representatives finally got the message. It is time for President Bush to accept the people's verdict," Stein concluded.
SOURCE Federation for American Immigration Reform
Contact:
Ira Mehlman, +1-206-420-7733, or
Bob Dane, +1-202-328-7004,
both of
Federation for American Immigration Reform
Posted by Editor at June 12, 2007 06:25 PM
