this was in today's editorial section of the arizona republic........
i'm very disappointed with the white house's lack of action on this......
White House can't stay silent as immigration debate warms up
Jul. 27, 2005 12:00 AM
It was the first major congressional debate in years about a problem that is international in scope and raises serious national security concerns.
Illegal immigration also holds more heat than an asphalt parking lot and cries out for some cool national leadership.
Arizona's two Republican senators, Jon Kyl and John McCain, were there Tuesday to make the case for their separate and competing reform packages.
The Bush White House was AWOL.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao were supposed to testify at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on comprehensive immigration reform. The Bush administration withdrew their names, without much explanation.
Sen. Arlen Specter, the committee chairman, complained that he "wanted to hear" what the Bush administration's program is, according to Billy House, The Republic's Washington reporter.
Specter wasn't the only one disappointed.
The nation turns frustrated eyes toward the president for some leadership.
It has been more than two years since Bush said a guest-worker program would be a good way to bring willing workers from outside the country to employers who wanted to hire them.
Since then, the bipartisan team of Sens. McCain and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass. have come up with a promising proposal.
Arizona Reps. Jim Kolbe and Jeff Flake, both Republicans, are involved in this worthwhile effort that deals realistically with the illegal immigrant population currently living here.
Kyl and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas recently announced a different approach.
There is plenty to talk about.
The level of illegal immigration to the United States today "represents a threat to our national security, to our economy, to our health care system, and to our state and local government budgets," McCain told the committee.
It is also a "humanitarian crisis," he said.
The Bush administration should have joined that discussion Tuesday.
It's a discussion that should have begun years ago, as the Arizona desert was claiming the lives of increasing numbers of illegal border crossers and the number of undocumented immigrants living in this country was climbing toward 11 million.
Congress is finally beginning to do its job.
But Bush has yet to offer more than broad outlines on how to reform a shattered immigration policy.
This incendiary issue will not be solved without presidential leadership.
According to a story in Sunday's Los Angeles Times, White House strategists say Bush is planning to make immigration a top priority this fall by putting together a coalition made up of advocacy groups and business interests that rely on immigrant labor.
They will be asked to pony up $50,000 to $250,000 for a media campaign to support a program of increased border security and a guest-worker component, the Times said.
Congress, not paid political announcements, is the mechanism ordained by our form of government to discuss and deal with national issues.
Members of Congress, notably Arizona's two senators, have met with business and advocacy groups and crafted solutions that deserve to be debated.
The Senate Judiciary Committee started the process Tuesday.
The Bush administration should have been there.
i'm very disappointed with the white house's lack of action on this......
White House can't stay silent as immigration debate warms up
Jul. 27, 2005 12:00 AM
It was the first major congressional debate in years about a problem that is international in scope and raises serious national security concerns.
Illegal immigration also holds more heat than an asphalt parking lot and cries out for some cool national leadership.
Arizona's two Republican senators, Jon Kyl and John McCain, were there Tuesday to make the case for their separate and competing reform packages.
The Bush White House was AWOL.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao were supposed to testify at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on comprehensive immigration reform. The Bush administration withdrew their names, without much explanation.
Sen. Arlen Specter, the committee chairman, complained that he "wanted to hear" what the Bush administration's program is, according to Billy House, The Republic's Washington reporter.
Specter wasn't the only one disappointed.
The nation turns frustrated eyes toward the president for some leadership.
It has been more than two years since Bush said a guest-worker program would be a good way to bring willing workers from outside the country to employers who wanted to hire them.
Since then, the bipartisan team of Sens. McCain and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass. have come up with a promising proposal.
Arizona Reps. Jim Kolbe and Jeff Flake, both Republicans, are involved in this worthwhile effort that deals realistically with the illegal immigrant population currently living here.
Kyl and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas recently announced a different approach.
There is plenty to talk about.
The level of illegal immigration to the United States today "represents a threat to our national security, to our economy, to our health care system, and to our state and local government budgets," McCain told the committee.
It is also a "humanitarian crisis," he said.
The Bush administration should have joined that discussion Tuesday.
It's a discussion that should have begun years ago, as the Arizona desert was claiming the lives of increasing numbers of illegal border crossers and the number of undocumented immigrants living in this country was climbing toward 11 million.
Congress is finally beginning to do its job.
But Bush has yet to offer more than broad outlines on how to reform a shattered immigration policy.
This incendiary issue will not be solved without presidential leadership.
According to a story in Sunday's Los Angeles Times, White House strategists say Bush is planning to make immigration a top priority this fall by putting together a coalition made up of advocacy groups and business interests that rely on immigrant labor.
They will be asked to pony up $50,000 to $250,000 for a media campaign to support a program of increased border security and a guest-worker component, the Times said.
Congress, not paid political announcements, is the mechanism ordained by our form of government to discuss and deal with national issues.
Members of Congress, notably Arizona's two senators, have met with business and advocacy groups and crafted solutions that deserve to be debated.
The Senate Judiciary Committee started the process Tuesday.
The Bush administration should have been there.
