| 
| 
Lou Dobbs Tonight -- CNN -- October 20, 2004
(Segment transcript)
Click here to read the entire transcript[...]
DOBBS: The White House tonight has stepped up its pressure on Congress to remove controversial measures on border security from the intelligence reform bill. Those measures would increase the number of border agents in this country and expedite the deportation of illegal aliens.
The White House pressure on Congress has angered some relatives of the 3,000 Americans who were killed on September 11.
Lisa Sylvester reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The House bill calls for the expedited removal of illegal aliens who have been in the United States five years or less, bans the federal government from accepting foreign-issued consular cards and expands the number of agents patrolling the border.
But the Senate version does not contain the same provisions. Immigration reform advocates argue it's impossible to ensure the country's safety without protecting the borders.
ROSEMARY JENKS, NUMBERSUSA: To think that we can address the 9/11 terrorist attacks without addressing immigration is putting our heads in the sand, which we have been doing for decades now with this out-of-control immigration policy.
SYLVESTER: But the Bush administration is pressuring Congress to remove those provisions.
In a letter to Congress, the White House says it strongly opposes the overbroad expansion of expedited removal, it "should be modified or dropped altogether" and "has concerns with the overbroad alien identification standards."
That's angered some of the 9/11 victims' families who say they don't want a watered-down version of the final bill.
MOLINARO: The Senate bill is comparable to a Hollywood set, all fronts, no sides, no backs, no roof. The failures were there before 9/11 in immigration, and they're still there. If you can't close the borders, you can't protect our borders the way they're supposed to be. We'll never be safe in this country.
SYLVESTER: Some lawmakers say the 9/11 bill is being used inappropriately to overhaul the immigration system. REP. ROBERT MENENDEZ (D), NEW JERSEY: These controversial and dangerous provisions, many of which have not even undergone a hearing and are opposed by the White House, and the statement of administration policy encompasses the largest rewrite of immigration law since 1996.
SYLVESTER: But other congressional members say they are fulfilling a promise to the 9/11 families.
REP. JAMES SENSENBRENNER (R), WISCONSIN: How can we face grieving families in the future and tell them while we might have done more, the legislative hurdles were just too high.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER: The differences are being worked out in conference committee. Lawmakers are trying to get something passed before the election, but that's not a guarantee -- Lou.
DOBBS: Not a guarantee and one suspects every effort being made to avoid that passage before the election by both parties.
Lisa Sylvester.
Thank you very much.
[...]
Click here to read the entire transcript
Copyright Notice: In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work on this website is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed an interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only. Ref.: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
|
|