Kerry Amendment Passes Senate, Will Add Border Patrol Agents

[kerrygoddess]

Kerry Amendment Passes Senate, Will Add Border Patrol Agents
May 16th, 2006 @ 4:37 pm

The Senate has taken up votes today on immigration reform, following Bush’s primetime address last night that seemingly did not win over the conservative base, as hoped by the Bush administration. Conservative critics still continue to decry the plans as “amnesty.”

Earlier in the day, the Senate knocked down by a 55 to 40 vote, a proposal by Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican of GA, that would have required lawmakers to “demand that border-security measures be in place before beginning a guest-worker program of the kind envisioned by President Bush.”

The Senate passed the amendment to the Immigration Reform Bill from Senator John Kerry today, which adds 1,000 additional Border Patrol agents – bringing the total up to 3,000 new agents this year – plus add an additional 100 helicopters and 250 power boats to secure America’s borders.

“We need a comprehensive answer to immigration that includes tightening border security, but putting another burden on the backs of the National Guard troops who are serving their second tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan isn’t the right answer. The National Guard which has borne the burden of a broken policy in Iraq shouldn’t have to bear the burden of an incomplete immigration policy,” said Kerry. “We need to listen to the 9/11 Commission and put the border patrol agents we need right there on the border. It won’t satisfy the right wing, but it’s the right policy.”

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