Senate Kills Immigration Bill

Vote to move forward falls 14 votes short
By Marie Morris,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 28, 2007 1:55 PM CDT
Senate Kills Immigration Bill
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., second from right, shakes hands with Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 28, 2007, following a news conference to discuss immigration reform. From left are, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., Rep. Sessions and Rep....   (Associated Press)

In a serious setback for the Bush administration's second-term agenda, the Senate effectively killed the immigration-reform bill today, voting 53-46 to keep the legislation from going forward. The president had actively promoted the bipartisan measure, going so far as to lobby senators by phone this morning, but with his influence at a low ebb, the effort fell short.

Calls from constituents opposed to the bill shut down the Capitol switchboard, the Washington Post reports, even as their legislative counterparts were triumphing in a procedural vote that exposed serious divisions within the GOP. Immigration  reform is unlikely to return to the legislative agenda before 2009, when a new president and Congress are in office. (More George W. Bush stories.)

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