b*****d 发帖数: 61690 | 1 Though the border security component is the centerpiece of the Corker-Hoeven
deal, the agreement includes a slew of sweeteners for senators considered
swing votes for the overall bill.
For instance, Nevada Sen. Dean Heller, long considered a likely Republican
supporter of immigration reform, sought proposals to require the Department
of Homeland Security to spell out how it will implement a biometric entry-
exit system at the 10 busiest airports and calls on DHS figure out how to
cut wait times at airports with the most international travelers.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) also announced Friday that he is co-sponsoring the
Corker-Hoeven agreement. He has wanted to toughen back taxes and benefit
provisions for immigrants in the overall bill, and the compromise adopts
parts of his amendments.But perhaps his most controversial demand — a
requirement that all back taxes be paid before undocumented immigrants
become legalized — was excluded. A Hatch spokeswoman said the senator has
not made up his mind on the underlying bill.
Other Republican co-sponsors of the amendment include Illinois Sen. Mark
Kirk, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, and the
GOP members of the Gang of Eight.
It wasn’t just Republicans who got their demands.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was publicly critical of the guest-worker
provisions in the Gang of Eight bill, telling the Washington Post that those
programs were a “massive effort to attract cheap labor.”
The Corker-Hoeven compromise includes a new section devoted to a Sanders
plan aimed at helping young adults get jobs. It would provide $1.5 billion
in grants to state and local communities to fund job opportunities for 16-
to 24-year-olds who qualify.
Sanders said this program was needed to offset the jobs that young foreign
workers have in the United States, and it’s paid for with a temporary fee
on certain visas and green cards.
Meanwhile, Murkowski and Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) secured language in the
Corker-Hoeven agreement meant to help the seafood industry in Alaska hire
seasonal workers.
Democrats are confident they will lose few — if any — votes from their
side, and the border security compromise helps attract a number of red-state
Democrats to the immigration bill; Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Mark
Pryor of Arkansas, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Begich are co-sponsors of
the Corker-Hoeven agreement.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/immigration-vote-93171_Page2.html#ixzz2X3D1hHri
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/immigration-vote-93171.html#ixzz2X3CwO8D9 |
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