Secret Reid Plan for Immigration Bill
PJM Washington Editor Richard Miniter has an exclusive report on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's use of an "unprecedented combination of legislative procedures" to push through the controversial Kennedy Immigration Bill.
Rocketing through Republican Washington is a memo predicting Sen. Harry Reid will use a unprecedented combination of legislative procedures to shove through the immigration bill today-without real opposition.
The memo was drafted by a former Secretary for the Majority and Minority in the U.S. Senate, Elizabeth B. Letchworth. As an expert in senate rules, she was asked by several senators skeptical of the immigration bill to use her sources and her expertise to anticipate the legislative moves of the immigration bill supporters. She wrote the memo as private work, for concerned friends.
This memo, made public on Pajamas Media for the first time, lays out a purported plan by Democrats to use obscure senate procedures to force through the immigration bill hworkwith no amendments from skeptical or critical senators.
Letchworth predicts that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will try this today.
She calls it “The Reid scenario,” which she says will kick off in less than two hours from this writing. Letchwork writes in an email: “The Reid scenario of offering amendments in strategic places in order to block any and all other amendments will commence when they return from their weekly party caucuses @ 2:15PM. [Today, Eastern] At the end of the amendment. offering process Sen. Reid will file cloture on the bill.”
Letchwork knows her way around the senate procedures-she was in thick of it when she served under then-majority leaders Bob Dole and Trent Lott. Prior to being elected by the entire U.S. Senate to serve as its official secretary for several two- year terms, she worked in the Senate for more that two decades.
The Senate voted 64- 35 to end debate on S. 1639, the immigration measure, today. That means, Letchworth says, the “Reid scenario” is now in motion.
In a related development, House Republicans are pressing minority Leader John Boehner for a public vote of the entire House Republican caucus-expressly disavowing the Senate immigration bill.
Below is Letchworth’s memo in its entirety.
Showdown:
If 60 U.S. Senators vote for cloture on Tuesday, June 26th and then again on Thursday, June 28th, then the Kennedy 388 page immigration bill will be passed by the United States Senate without the benefit of a single minute of committee hearings, committee action as to amendments in committee and without the benefit of 99 Senators being able to propose any changes to the bill. The combination of procedures and maneuvers under the Senate Rules that Majority Leader Harry Reid will use to achieve this goal has never occurred in the history of the United States Senate.
How it will happen:
This Tuesday in the U.S. Senate @ approx. 11:45 AM [later amended to this week -RM] the Senate will conduct a roll call vote on whether the Senate should begin to debate the newly drafted 388 page immigration bill. This bill was introduced on June 18th, 2007 by Sen. Kennedy. If 60 votes are obtained on Tuesday, the bill will be pending in the Senate. Sen. Reid will then immediately take the floor and proceed in a completely unprecedented manner which will deny all Senators except for himself the right to offer amdts. to the bill. (Below is a description of how exactly this will be done.) A cloture motion will then be offered by Sen. Reid. That cloture vote will occur on Thursday. If 60 votes are garnered on Thursday, June 28th for cloture on S. 1639, then after the 30 hours have been used or yielded back, votes will occur automatically, in back-to-back sequence, on the Reid amdts. These roll call vote will conclude with a vote on final passage of S. 1639, the Kennedy Immigration bill.
Facts surrounding the bill:
S. 1639 was introduced in the Senate on June 18, 2007
S. 1639 did not get referred to the appropriate Senate committee which is regular order
S. 1639 did not receive any hearings in committee and receive the benefit of experts in the field of immigration testifying as to their knowledge of our present immigration system and the new immigration system contained in S. 1639
S. 1639 did not receive a markup in committee where Senators, who sit on that committee, could listen to the testimony by immigration experts, and could have had the opportunity to make changes to the text of S. 1639 by offering amdts.
Procedures to be used by Sen. Reid:
If 60 Senators vote to make S. 1639 the pending business in the Senate on Tuesday, June 26, Sen. Reid will immediately take the floor of the Senate and offer a 1st degree amdt. to S. 1639, and ask for the yeas and nays. This guarantees a roll call vote will occur on this amdt.
He will then send a 2nd degree amdt to the desk and ask for the yeas and nays. This achieves the same for the 2nd degree amdt. He will then ask that the amdt. to be divided.
This amdt will automatically be divided into sections that can stand alone as individual amdts. In other words, his second degree amdt. may have 18 sections, and by using this procedure, he has now put in place 18 amdts. Since the yeas and nays were ordered, so he has now been guaranteed a roll call vote will occur on all of these sections by using the Rules of the Senate.
These sections are presumably going to contain the text of amdts he believes Republican and Democratic Senators wanted to offer when the Senate debated the last immigration bill a few weeks ago.
Now no other amdts are in order since he has placed his amdts in these specific places in the amendment process allowed by the Senate Rules. No other Senator can stop him from using these maneuvers since Sen. Reid has priority recognition over all other United States Senators. By Sen. Reid using this amendment process and calling for a division of his amdt., he can guarantee Senators that votes will occur on issues he has chosen to offer and on issues he believes will please enough Senators as to earn the 60 votes necessary to invoke cloture and pass the bill.
Sen. Reid will then send a cloture motion to the desk setting up the cloture vote for Thursday. The bill is now pending but no Senator can offer amdts because he is blocking them by using his priority recognition and offering his own amdts.
If 60 Senators vote on Thursday to limit debate on S. 1639, at the end of the 30 hours allowed by Senate Rule 22, votes will automatically begin, without further debate, on all of the Reid amdts in a back-to-back sequence. The final vote will be a vote on Final Passage of S. 1639, the Kennedy Immigration bill.
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29 Comments
1. Lyndsey:Another low- blow by Democrats, can’t say I am suprised. Thank you, Mr. Miniter, for exposing Reid’s dirty Senate tactics.
Jun 26, 2007 - 11:05 am 2. Anthony (Los Angeles):P.S. Can someone please send Reid into the time- out chair?
Are there any adults left in the Capitol Building?
Jun 26, 2007 - 11:44 am 3. smitty:Republicans roll over once again. Thanks Republicans.
Jun 26, 2007 - 12:02 pm 4. Trooper TK421:Every 21 years, it seems like, the congress decides we’re ripe for another proper f—ing. Our elected reps don’t listen, our President tells his base to f— off and makes kissy-faces at the opposition to advance a globalist agenda whose sole purpose is to destroy American Sovereignty.
The Great Experiment is falling apart around us. Do we just let it go to its natural conclusion, or do we hit the reset button?
Jun 26, 2007 - 12:23 pm 5. Trader-DFW:Do we just let it go to its natural conclusion, or do we hit the reset button?
Hit the reset button my A$$! Time to decorate the trees and lamp posts in the capitol, and I know right where we can find the ornaments! These people are treasonous!
Jun 26, 2007 - 12:38 pm 6. G$:Just the idea of this “Amnesty” bill marginalizes every American. We have been nuetered into submission by both parties. Republicans are now the sellouts and Democrats have become the socialists. How far will the pendulum continue to swing left? Sorry, but I must excuse myself from this discussion in order to vomit.
Jun 26, 2007 - 12:53 pm 7. Smokey:See what Dennis Miller thinks about Reid [IMHO, Miller is too kind].
Jun 26, 2007 - 12:54 pm 8. Smokey:Sorry, my hotlink didn’t work for some reason. Try this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eD_-li0ofjw
Jun 26, 2007 - 1:03 pm 9. Joe C.:I wish Republicans were this smart and ruthless.
Jun 26, 2007 - 1:07 pm 10. dr demento:I, Hillary Rodham Clinton, do solemnly swear…
Jun 26, 2007 - 1:22 pm 11. JohnSobieski:The myth that Republicans are conservative is dead. There have been many proofs, but now the shamnesty bill cuts a clear view. There is no hiding.
Bush, the globablist, wants to make North American Union a reality and this step is absolutely necessary. We voted for this evil man twice. We voted in Graham, Burr, Kyl, Martinez, McCain, Collins, Snowe, Ensign,… We voted in liberals who do not share our values.
The Senate is corrupted by globalists. To them, we are the peasants that need to be guided. We can’t think, we don’t know what is good for us. They are betting that the voters will forget their anger and deliver them into office again. I for one will never vote for any Senator or Rep who votes for cloture or final vote on this amnesty bill.
Jun 26, 2007 - 1:30 pm 12. James P. Gagel:No, there are no adults left in Congress.
These kids either need to grow up and get a common sense bill passed, or look for new jobs. The whole lot of them.
Jun 26, 2007 - 1:48 pm 13. Mike O:Every Republican who voted for cloture should has a strong border-security proponent as an opponent in the next primary. The national party will NEVER get another nickel from me and I will NOT vote for ANY GOP incumbebt senator from now on. If stuff like this gets passed, I’d rather have the place full in Dem hands rather than have to watch GOP Quislings bend over and take it up the tailpipe with a smile on their faces.
Jun 26, 2007 - 2:18 pm 14. vaspers the grate:This immigration “reform” bill, shows us who the real “rogue regime” is.
The USA is no longer “of the People, by the People, for the People”.
It’s time to put an end to the Myth of Government, and move to open source government, bypassing all politicians with grassroots activism.
The Revolution is Near.
Jun 26, 2007 - 2:30 pm 15. Fred Dickey:The last day of Rome.
Jun 26, 2007 - 2:33 pm 16. Brian H:Clearly, any system of government is corruptible, if the participants want it to be.
Jun 26, 2007 - 4:10 pm 17. Bobby:Uhm, how did Reid become a millionaire again living in Searchlight Nevada, Pop. oh, I don’t know I think about 150?
Jun 26, 2007 - 4:15 pm 18. Bobby:How did Reid become a millionaire again in Searchlight,Nevada,Pop. Oh, probably no more than 200?
Jun 26, 2007 - 4:18 pm 19. TriggerFinger:Without making a value judgment on the bill itself, wasn’t the gun industry junk-lawsuit liability protection act passed a couple years back using a similar procedure? I remember the majority leader at the time blocking some amendments by “filling the tree”, which sounds similar to the procedure described here.
Now, in that case there were amendments offered by senators other than the majority leader, and the bill had gone through the committee process normally.
So, could we get a clearer explanation of what exactly is so unprecedented and dangerous about this strategy?
Jun 26, 2007 - 5:31 pm 20. gcblues en nicaragua:the only consevativism the anti immigrant crowd represents is mussolini’s conservatism. real conservatives goldwater, RR, etc would retch at the anti free trade, anti immigrant legal or illegal crapola being spouted by today’s phoney conservatives.
conservative solutions might be reducing and eliminating public services for everyone.
negotiating reciprocity with mexico so americans could work there as well.
making all schools private, and reducing impediments and costs to self employment.
making all ssi private.
instead of insisting on english insist people learn additional languages.
we need mexicans, they keep costs and wages down. productivity up. you want to earn more, improve yerself or open a company. the idea that there is “american” jobs, and “american” culture to defend or that the govt is your friend and should protect your job from people working harder or for less is pathetic. if you cannot compete against an uneducated illegal may i suggest it is YOU that has the problem.
rove is right, either we will have hispanic republicans, or republicans will dissapear.
i have been radical american right all my life, these new neo cons and religious right wing facistas are disgusting. have you no shame? you should be thanking these people, instead you blame every problem in the land on illegals. ohhhhh how brave and american of you. retch.
&*T^&%$^%#%#$@#@!#@!@!
Jun 26, 2007 - 7:10 pm 21. pch1013:“Kennedy Immigration Bill”
Make that the Bush-Kennedy Immigration Bill.
If it passes, then Bush is the one who will be signing it.
Jun 26, 2007 - 8:11 pm 22. Ordinary Coloradan:The Republican Leadership is complicit (McConnel and Kyl and Bush) in this traitorous sellout of a back room deal that hasn’t had proper scrutiny, discussion or examination.
Its crap like this high handed screwjob that is going to grow the next Timothy McVeigh – probably more than one of them. And thats one of the worst things about this bill (other than the utter disregard for the public, for lawmaking and for the soverignty of the US) – the way it has been jammed down our throats is really going to loosen the screws on people that are already pretty far out there. They may as well title this “The Timothy McVeigh Creation Bill”
My only hope is that the next Timothy McVeigh targets the Senators who did this, not the innocents like in Oklahoma City. The Senators will be well enough protected to where the next McVeigh gets caught before he kills any innocents.
No need for bombs – we’re going to run all these people like McConnell, Kyl, and Graham out of office anyway. And if we can find the right guy, Trent Lott needs to be shown the door as well.
Jun 26, 2007 - 9:52 pm 23. Original Rebel:“The Revolution is Near.”
I’m all for that. We need another “tea party” only this time we toss the political pimps into the Atlantic!
Don’t give up. Keep calling, emailing and everything else you can think of. We’ve got to bear down on this before it’s forced down our throats.
And gcblues … keep your Nicaraguan nose out of OUR business! If you don’t live here, you have no clue what’s going on here. So, keep your liberal crapola to yourself!
Jun 26, 2007 - 10:47 pm 24. elittle:I have been for years pressing for the people of the US to NOT VOTE for ANY incumbent for three consecutive voting periods. That would effectively “clean house” down there in the “white house of ill repute”. It is a nest of vipers and we shall soon be feeling the bite from their total disregard of the folks who put them there. It is a totally, “line my pockets and get my pension” mentality that pervades the whole place. “They” need absolute complete replacement in both houses. Get rid of ALL those “elder” statesmen! Oh wait, there are none of those, just crooks, both parties!
Jun 27, 2007 - 2:57 am 25. Dawnsblood:Gcblues, I suppose down in balmy Nicaragua you are probably confused as to what the word conservate means. The first principle of conservatism is Law and Order. Conservatives do not reward law breakers. The word illegal in the term illegal immigrant is supposed to mean something. Oh and please feel free to “keep costs and wages down” in your own d— country.
Jun 27, 2007 - 5:19 am 26. gcblues en nicaragua:dawnsblood.
i certainly do not need lectures from a facist on conservitism.
the rule of law is quite different than law and order. the rule of law was what the usa used to be, law and order is the way hitler and mussilini used to rule. afterall, everything they did was legal within their state statutes. conservatives certainly do reward law breakers when laws intrude on the rights of free men. note mr. pauls recent interview with tax resistors. the idea that people that want to work and send money to their familys are criminals is laughable. may i suggest some education on your part. start with hayek, road to serfdom chpts 3,4,6. good conservative reading.
keeping costs and wages down for the same work is conservative dawn. people do not improve their lot by keeping the same job all their lives and getting paid more and more for the same work. that is an idiot plan, well supported by the left.
if you wish unions, tarriffs, nativism, living wages and a sweet central planned economy, please stand for hillary, for she is your man.
Jun 27, 2007 - 7:43 am 27. gcblues en nicaragua:original rebel.
Jun 27, 2007 - 7:50 am 28. Pete Schade:i am an american citizen. lived in the usa all my life until now. read earlier comments. their is nothing conservative about your rant, nor liberal about mine. educate yourself. at least a little.
As a native Nevadan, please allow me to express my heartfelt apology for this buffoon’s continual loiterings in the halls of power. He’s been a leech on the political backside of the state of Nevada and the nation for as long back as when I was in grade school. i have no idea why he gets re-elected, could it be that there aren’t enough sane Nevadans left that care enough to vote his sorry butt out of office? One has to wonder.
Jun 28, 2007 - 1:58 pm 29. jeffrey c. scott:In any case: please forgive us!
Harry Reid is the most incompetent
senator I can remember…!
If he tries to push through an imigration bill
America does not want, he should be
removed from office…!
Oh, and by the way take Pelosi with you.
Jun 29, 2007 - 7:19 am