AMI Sends Letter to Senate Urging Passage of Immigration Reform
Friday, June 8, 2007
Despite Setback, Hope Remains for Comprehensive Bill
In a letter sent while the Senate was
continuing consideration of comprehensive
immigration reform, AMI President and CEO J.
Patrick Boyle urged passage of the proposal,
noting that “this legislation provides a
practical foundation to address many of the
meat and poultry industry’s principles for
comprehensive immigration reform, provide
increased border security for our country and
enhance the U.S. economy.”
Boyle
reminded the Senate that a meaningful
immigration reform bill should
include:
• A path to legalization so
that workers in the U.S. who have become
important members of local communities and
contributors to our economy have the
opportunity to become legal;
•
Enhancement of current screening systems for
employees by allowing federal databases to
share information to ensure their legal status
through other practical changes and by
providing practical steps to address
true-identity theft;
• A viable expanded
employment visa program;
• The necessary
tools to secure our nation’s borders.
The bill suffered a setback,
however, last night as senators from both
parties were unsuccessful in advancing the
package when a procedural vote to end debate
and move to a final vote on the measure failed
by a vote of 45 to 50. The bill was pulled from
further consideration by Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid (D-NV). Support for the
comprehensive package is still strong, and
supporters on both sides of the aisle indicated
that the fate of the Senate bill was still
politically viable.
Sen. Reid said that
he hopes the bill can be brought back at a
later date. “There's no reason to be upset. I
think that we have to look toward passing this
bill," he said. "It's something that needs to
be done."
Scott Stanzel, a spokesman
for the White House, commented that the bill
was far from dead and added that the
administration was taking to heart the fact
that both Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-CA) indicated they would bring the matter
back up for consideration. "The process has
demonstrated that there is a strong bipartisan
majority in the United States Senate that wants
to see bipartisan, comprehensive reform,"
Stanzel said.
While it is unclear when
this measure will be brought back to the Senate
floor for consideration, AMI will continue to
push Congress to pass comprehensive immigration
reform.
For a copy of the letter, click
here: http://www.meatami.com/StoryLinks/2007/ImmigrationBillLtr060807.pdf
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