In near-empty chamber, Senate finalizes border security bill
The House cut off its summer break for a day this week to wrap up unfinished business, and this morning in Washington the Senate did the same, or at least a couple of senators did.
In a rare recess session that wrapped up in just a half hour, and with only two senators present, the Senate cleared a bill that authorizes $600 million to hire 1,500 more agents to patrol the U.S. border with Mexico, and supply more high tech equipment and surveillance drones to the Southwest.
Sen. Harry Reid, the majority leader, stayed in Nevada and dispatched one of his deputies, Sen. Charles Schumer,. D-N.Y. to run the session, which also included passage of a resolution in memory of former Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who was killed Monday in a plane crash.
Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., drove in from his home in Baltimore to preside at the session, which was largely choreographed since Republicans had sent word they would not object to passing the bill by unanimous consent.
The Senate session came two days after the House returned for a one-day meeting to finalize a $26 billion public employees jobs bills. While in session, lawmakers also passed the border security measure.
Passage of the border security bill, which was sent to the White House for enactment, gave the Democrats another opportunity to advertise their desire to take up broader immigration measures that could include strategies to normalize people who have entered the country illegally.
Schumer said the border bill would "clear the path for restarting the bipartisan discussions we absolutely need to have on how best to restore the rule of law to our entire immigration system.
"The only way to restore the rule of law to our entire immigration system is to pass comprehensive reform," he said.
In a statement, Reid said: "I continue to believe that increased enforcement along our borders is only one part of a sound, comprehensive solution to fix our broken immigration system, and more work remains to achieve that ultimate goal."
Tom Brede, a Reid spokesman, said it was coincidence the Senate took up the immigration-related measure just a few days after Reid ignited Republicans and the conservative blogosphere for remarks he made before a group of Hispanic supporters in Las Vegas.
At the event, Reid blamed Republicans for the Senate's failure to tackle a comprehensive immigration bill this year, and said, "I don't know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican."
Reid did not back down from the comment, saying in a followup that Republicans, including his opponent Sharron Angle, do not support policies on job creation and social welfare that Democrats believe are important to Hispanics and others.
Following the Senate's action this morning, Reid again challenged Republicans.
Democrats "are hopeful that Republicans will match our commitment to fix our broken system in a way that respects our laws and honors our values as a nation,” he said.
