American People are Heard as Senate Rejects DREAM Act!

This is a copy of the email I received tonight from FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform)

American People are Heard as Senate Rejects DREAM Act!

This afternoon the Senate rejected a motion to bring up the DREAM Act on the floor by a vote of 52 to 44 - far short of the 60 votes necessary to proceed on the bill. The furious counter-attack began only 48 hours ago, when news broke that the DREAM Act would resurface. FAIR sent out an alert to all of our members, activists, and friends and you stepped up to the plate and took on the entire U.S. Senate.

The rapid pace at which amnesty supporters were trying to push this bill through meant that there was little time for anyone to prepare. Prior to the vote, Senators held a brief debate on the merits on the bill. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), the author of the bill, argued that failure to pass the DREAM Act amounted to turning our backs on the children of illegal aliens. Senator David Vitter (R-LA) and Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called the bill amnesty and expressed frustration that the United States Senate was repeatedly ignoring the demands of the American people for enforcement of our immigration laws.

An unexpected turn of events took place on the floor when Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) stood up to announce that she had been working with Senator Durbin on possible "compromise" DREAM Act language. She stated, "I do believe there is a compromise approach to the DREAM Act that could have bipartisan support," and argued that this measure is "isolated from the entire immigration issue" (Congress Daily). Senator Durbin acknowledged this and promised to continue to work with Senator Hutchison if the vote succeeded. He also warned other Senators not to expect any action on other immigration measures such as AgJOBS or guest worker programs if the DREAM Act did not pass.

Fortunately, however, enough Senators heard the voices of the American people, who were calling in by the thousands, and the vote to proceed on the bill failed. Political observers are already suggesting that the downfall of the DREAM Act signals a resounding rejection of amnesty as a national immigration policy and the building of momentum on the side of true immigration reformers. And, while there are still threats looming on Capitol Hill, there is no doubt that this strong victory will bolster our ability to defeat them.

Thank you members, activists, and friends for your unwavering dedication to true immigration reform and your tireless efforts to stop damaging legislation such as the DREAM Act! We could not have won this victory without all of your hard work!!!

To see how your Senators voted on the DREAM Act, click here. To listen to today's podcast, click here.

For the Record here is how my Senators voted:

Senator Cornyn (R) --- No
Senator Hutchinson (Rhino) --- Yes

Keep America Free --- VOTE DUNCAN HUNTER!!!!
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