15 Republican Senators joined all 52 Democrats in voting to invoke cloture on the Corker-Hoeven amendment, a 1,200-page substitute to the Gang of Eight’s comprehensive immigration reform proposal. The motion’s passage ends debate on the amendment, moving the bill into position for final passage. Majority Leader Harry Reid says he plans to pass the bill by the end of the week.
Both of Alabama’s U.S. Senators voted against the cloture motion.
Senator Jeff Sessions has been the leading opponent of the bill, unleashing a barrage of press releases and making numerous appearances on national media outlets, including CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “I’m opposed to the bill because it doesn’t do what it says,” Sessions said to Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer. “This bill grants amnesty first, and a mere promise of enforcement in the future.”
Proponents of the Corker-Hoeven amendment say it will bolster border security, but opponents say it represents little more than another round of empty promises. Sessions went a step further, calling the amendment a “legislative monstrosity” and comparing it to ObamaCare, since both pieces of legislation were hastily put together and too long to read before being voted on.
“This legislation is a crushing blow to the working people of this country, a surrender to illegality, and a capitulation to special interests over the interests of the citizens we pledged to represent,” Sessions said in conclusion.
The 15 Republicans who voted in favor of the motion were:
Lamar Alexander, Kelly Ayotte, Jeffrey Chiesa, Susan Collins, Bob Corker, Jeff Flake, Lindsey Graham, Orrin Hatch, Dean Heller, John Hoeven, Mark Kirk, John McCain, Lisa Murkowski, Marco Rubio and Roger Wicker.
Related:
1. WATCH: Sessions appears on CBS’s “Face the Nation”
2. Sessions: Can anyone explain how this immigration bill will help struggling Americans?
3. Sessions fires opening salvo in Senate floor debate on immigration reform
4. Sessions, Cruz, Lee & Grassley team up to fight gang of eight immigration bill
5. Sessions warns immigration proposal will depress wages ‘for maybe 20 years-plus’
What else is going on?
1. Alabama braces for Obama climate change announcement
2. Accountability Act Provides Incentives, Tools for Failing Schools
3. Nodine gets a shout out on MSNBC
4. Alabama delegation votes 6-1 along party lines in unexpected defeat of farm bill
5. Shelby co-sponsors bill to repeal Death Tax
