Reid May Shelve Amnesty Bill

Politico is reporting that Head Senate Monkey Harry Reid may remove the amnesty bill from the floor if he Republican Monkeys fight to end debate on Thursday. The “cloture’ vote, or the vote to end the adding of amendments and moving to a vote on the bill, needs 60 votes to proceed. With the senate essentially evenly split, Repubs could feasibly (if they had their act together) refuse to allow cloture and continue with amendments and debate for weeks to come.

Harry says he’d rather shelve the bill if that;’s going to be the case and come back ti it later. Perhaps when they think all of us have forgotten.

Immigration headed for shelf?

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) could move as early as tonight to wind down debate over the immigration bill – a move that Republicans said they will oppose, possibly stalling the bill for weeks.

Reid told reporters today that he would pull the bill from the floor if Republicans oppose the Thursday cloture vote, which requires support from 60 senators to end debate.

“If the cloture motion fails, I’m not going to proceed on it at this time,” Reid said of the immigration bill. “Maybe at some point in the future.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said his conference wants the debate to continue into next week to allow more time for amendments.

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), one of the chief negotiators of the bipartisan immigration bill, said Reid’s move would be “extraordinarily disappointing.”

“It’s an act that a true leader, I think, would want to avoid,” Kyl said.

Reid said he has dedicated two weeks for the debate, and that it was necessary to move onto other issues. Democratic aides said Republicans were asking for more time as a way to potentially kill the bill.

Make no mistake–your calls and emails have made the Repubs uncomfortable enough to at least try to keep the debate open, frustrating Reid. If you were silent they, too, would be going merrily along with the cloture vote for Thursday.

Of course, we’re not even there yet, so cloture could still happen. President Bush will no doubt be putting a lot of pressure on his Repub Monkeys to go to a vote. They haven;t listened to him for the past 3 years, let’s hope they don’t start now.

In amendment news, from NumbersUSA, here’s what happened today:

Members today voted down (31-62) an amendment sponsored by Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) that would have ensured that green card applicants who entered the country illegally were not given preference under a merit-based processing system over those who have waited outside the country for their immigration status to be approved. The Senate adopted an amendment (71-22) sponsored by Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) that would eliminate provisions authorizing the Department of Labor to waive requirements that employers in “labor shortage areas” offer jobs to U.S. workers before seeking to import foreign workers.

The bill’s proponents hope to finish work on it by June 7 or 8, but for a vote on final passage to occur, however, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) must first call for a vote on a motion to proceed (cloture), which would cut off debate and prevent a filibuster. In order for cloture to be invoked, 60 senators must vote “yes” on it.