A Bridge Too Far for Conservatives
BARNES, FRED
A Bridge Too Far for Conservatives The perils of working with Ted Kennedy. by Fred Barnes Don't listen to Teddy Kennedy. If you belong to the small band of conservative brothers inclined to...
...But what he says is likely to make you anxious, vexed, or even crazed...
...We need to help children, not hurt them...
...The Republicans gave up a lot to get Kennedy, particularly in agreeing to "Z" visas that would allow the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already in the United States to stay as legal residents and eventually seek citizenship...
...The first is a buildup of border security that must be completed before Z visas can be issued and other reforms implemented...
...When you catch him in the I-want-to-legis-late mode, you can do some business...
...Kennedy's response was ferocious...
...Dorgan had the votes to win, 49-48, until Kennedy intervened at the last moment...
...He intimidates, or tries to anyway...
...All four voted with Dorgan on the five-year limit, also a deal-breaker...
...In this bill, Kyl says, "temporary means temporary...
...The bipartisan group of 12 senators who negotiated the compromise met daily last week (several times in Kennedy's office) to decide which amendments they would accept and which they would oppose as poison pills like Dorgan's that shatter the compromise and kill the bill...
...And Kennedy is effective...
...He referred to Dorgan as the "senator from North Carolina...
...In Massachusetts, illegal workers are "fired for going to the bathroom, denied overtime pay, docked 15 minutes' pay for every minute they were late . . . fired for talking while on the clock, forced to ration toilet paper...
...Indeed, much of the organized left opposes it...
...grants who work here now...
...But when an amendment by Republican senator John McCain mandating payment of back taxes was introduced, Kennedy let it pass by voice vote...
...Obama and Dodd were absent...
...Should any of these provisions be stripped from the bill, the compromise will fall apart and immigration reform will die, for the foreseeable future anyway...
...This would alienate the business lobby, which supports the bill largely because of the temp program...
...He is a bellower, a bully, something of a blowhard...
...If they are working on a construction site, they are going to be covered by Davis-Bacon...
...They'll be injured by "sharp hooks, knives, exhausting assembly line speeds...
...That's the plan by liberal Democrats—Obama is one—to restore legal immigration based largely on family ties—chain migration—rather than education, job skills, and other measures of merit...
...They should not have to pay for the sins of their parents...
...It's not...
...If you belong to the small band of conservative brothers inclined to support immigration reform, the Massachusetts senator is on your side...
...He and Kyl had arranged a tradeoff whereby the collection of back taxes was scratched in exchange for Z visa holders not being credited for Social Security taxes they paid while working here illegally...
...Kennedy also scolded Republican Jeff Sessions of Alabama for seeking to bar newly legalized immigrants from qualifying for the earned income tax credit...
...He roared at Dorgan, "Who are you trying to kid...
...But when you hear Kennedy on the subject, you have to wonder what they're so worried about...
...Today, when they hire illegal immigrants, "they do not do it...
...The AFL-CIO is especially upset about the provision to bring foreign workers here temporarily...
...The second is a temporary worker program in which the workers must return to their home country...
...The four Democratic senators running for president—Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd—were not part of these talks, and it showed...
...At times, Kennedy makes the compromise immigration bill sound like the latest loopy liberal legislation to provide welfare to the world...
...Kennedy is in an I-want-to-legislate mode," Graham said...
...This amendment would hurt children," Kennedy shouted...
...Kennedy single-handedly turned back an effort by Democratic senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota to wipe out or limit the temp program...
...In the Senate, there's one more serious obstacle to passage...
...He and Kyl figured it was better not to oppose such a popular measure...
...He's succeeded so far, and it now appears the bill will pass the Senate when debate resumes in June...
...Kennedy and Kyl easily rebuffed an amendment by Republican senator David Vitter of Louisiana to prohibit Z visas—still another compromise-destroying amendment...
...The temps, Kennedy insisted last week, are "going to get the prevailing wage, they are going to be protected by OSHA, if they get hurt on the job they are going to get workmen's compensation...
...As Senate floor manager of the immigration bill, Kennedy gets emotionally wound up...
...He is enormously fun to watch...
...Absent the new program, Kennedy said, they'll continue to be exploited, their rights "trampled on...
...They are going to get worker protections...
...If the compromise becomes law, only the immigrant, spouse, and minor children will be allowed in...
...He persuaded Democrat Daniel Akaka of Hawaii to change his vote, and Dorgan lost, 49-48...
...But what's important about Kennedy is that he's the ally of pro-immigrant Republicans in the Senate debate on the bipartisan immigration bill...
...On the touchy issue of whether illegal immigrants should pay back taxes to get Z visas, Kennedy proved to be tolerant...
...He berates Democratic and Republican senators alike...
...After the bipartisan compromise was announced, Senator Lindsey Graham returned to South Carolina, spoke to the state Republican convention, and was booed when he mentioned Kennedy...
...The House, where there's no Kennedy counterpart, is another matter...
...And the third is the end of "chain migration," the practice that has allowed legal immigrants to bring their endless extended families here...
...He exaggerates...
...I would like the chicken-pluck-ers to pay $10 or $15 an hour," he said...
...He raises his voice...
...Kyl and Republicans will bail out...
...Dorgan initially proposed to strike the program entirely...
...Led by conservative Jon Kyl of Arizona, the Republicans gained Kennedy's support for three significant provisions...
...Dorgan later proposed to end the program after five years, another compromise-killer...
...Kennedy contrasted this pampering with the fate of those poor illegal immiFred Barnes is executive editor of The Weekly Standard...
...He said, contrary to what Dorgan had argued, that illegal immigrants, not legal temps, drive down wages...
...He is a throwback to an older oratorical style...
...Clinton and Biden, supposedly backers of immigration reform, voted with Dorgan (and the AFL-CIO) to eliminate the temporary workers program and blow up the compromise...
...And Kennedy may be the only person who can stop liberal Democrats from stripping and thus killing the bill...
...True, but Graham was wise not to bring Kennedy with him to emphasize the point...
...And the bill was saved...
...Who is the senator . . . trying to fool...
...Again, if the liberals succeed, it means immigration reform is dead...
Vol. 12 • May 2007 • No. 36