Senate passes Border Fence bill - now it goes to the President to sign, page 1

Earlier this week, the House of Representatives signed HR6061, which approved the building of a 700 mile fence along the southwestern border of the US. Yesterday, the Senate, by a vote of 80-19, passed the bill and sent it on it's way to the President to sign.

www.nytimes.com
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 — The Senate on Friday approved the building of 700 miles of fence along the nation’s southwestern border, fulfilling a demand by conservative Republicans to take steps to slow the flow of illegal immigrants before exploring broader changes to immigration law.

The Senate vote, 80 to 19, came as lawmakers finished a batch of legislation before heading home to campaign. It sent the fence measure to President Bush, who has promised to sign it despite his earlier push for a more comprehensive approach that could lead to citizenship for some who are in the country illegally.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

It is interesting to look at some of the position-switching that went on for this vote. Eight Democrats who previously opposed the bill changed their positions and voted in favor of it. They included:
Boxer (D-CA)
Carper (D-DE)
Clinton (D-NY)
Dodd (D-CT)
Harkin (D-IA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Obama (D-IL)
Schumer (D-NY)

I was surprised to see that Lieberman voted against the bill.

The next step is to get tough on scofflaw employers.

Related News Links:
www.boston.com
www.kxmb.com

[edit on 30-9-2006 by jsobecky]