October 24, 2007: Senate Confirms a Judge; A DREAM Dies; Amtrak Talk

[19:31]
The Senate is still in session. Senators have been speaking about a reauthorization of Amtrak funding, S.294. The bill is being managed on the floor by Lautenberg (NJ) and Lott (MS). Lautenberg said just now that two hours after the Senate convenes tomorrow there will be a vote on a Sununu (NH) amendment to the bill.

What's interesting about this Amtrak authorization is that it's got 41 co-sponsors. That's a lot of co-sponsors. And, more than a handful of them are Republicans: Burr (NC), Hutchison (TX), Cochran (MS), Collins (ME), Lott (MS), Smith (OR), Snowe (ME), Specter (PA), Stevens (AK), and Warner (VA).

This Amtrak bill, which reauthorizes Amtrak funding for FY 2008-2012, will get passed. What exactly it will look like could be determined over the next few days of Senate debate.

[17:49]
The Senate is just now coming out of a quorum call. Reid is on the floor now.

The Senate is going to move to the Amtrak bill. He says it's long overdue and that they want to complete it. No one's playing games with it, he says.

There won't be any votes yet today. He says he wants to see debate today, and amendments offered tomorrow and Friday. So it looks like no Farm Bill until next week.

[15:21]
Senators Trent Lott (MS) and Frank Lautenberg (NJ) are on the floor trying to make the case for a bill they have authored that would bolster Amtrak, adding lines and whatnot. Lott said that he has been working so much on this bill with his friend from New Jersey that his fellow senators are starting to call him "Senator Lottenberg."

Lott wants to see more Amtrak lines. More lines dedicated solely to Amtrak, such that they aren't sharing track with freight lines.

It is unclear whether there is going to be any kind of vote on this bill. Lott has just said that they have not gotten the go ahead to bring the bill up for a second reading (i.e. have it considered seriously on the floor).

[15:01]
The Senate is in a quorum call. I'm not sure what's up next. Perhaps the Farm Bill.

[14:49]
In a test vote, senators earlier today blocked the DREAM Act from moving forward by a count of 52-44. The support of 60 senators would be necessary for the Act to withstand a Republican filibuster. See below for a brief discussion about the DREAM Act.

Dick Durbin (IL) on the DREAM Act: "What crime did these children commit? They committed the crime of obeying their parents and following their parents to this country. Do you think there was a vote in the household about their future? I don't think so."

House member and Presidential candidate Tom Tancredo suggested that there should be an immigration raid of Durbin's press conference in favor of the bill.

[13:18]
Earlier today the Senate confirmed the Honorable Leslie Southwick to become a judge for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Senate Passes Labor, Health, & Education Spending

Last night, the Senate passed the Labor, Health, and Education Spending Bill FY 2008 by a count of 75-19. President Bush has threatened to veto the legislation because it exceeds his budget request. The Senate version of the bill amounts to $9b more than the President's request. The Senate will now send conferees to negotiate a common bill with conferees from the House.

A Judicial Nomination

The Senate begins floor action at 9:00 when it considers the judicial nomination of the Honorable Leslie Southwick, a judge from Mississippi whom President Bush has nominated to serve on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. There is clearly some Democratic support for the nominee, or else the nominee would not advance beyond the Judiciary Committee, out of which Judge Southwick was reported favorably.

It's DREAM Time

After the nomination is dispensed with, the Senate will move on to the contentious topic of immigration. This time the legislation is something called the DREAM Act. DREAM stands for the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors.

Near as I can tell, this legislation would authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to cancel the removal or adjust the status of an (illegal?) alien to one of "an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence" if five conditions are met:

1) The alien has been continually present in the U.S. for 5 years;

2) The alien was younger than 16 years old at the time of entry and is not yet 30;

3) The alien appears to be a person of good moral character since the passage of the act;

4) The alien has been admitted to an institute of higher education OR has received a high school diploma or GED;

and

5) the alien--

(i) is not inadmissible under paragraph (2), paragraph (3), subparagraph (B), (C), (E), (F), or (G) of paragraph (6), or subsection (C) of paragraph (10) of section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)), except that if the alien is inadmissible solely under subparagraph (C) or (F) of paragraph (6) of such section, the alien had not yet reached the age of 16 years at the time the violation was committed; and

(ii) is not deportable under subparagraph (E) or (G) of paragraph (1), paragraph (2), subparagraph (B), (C), or (D) of paragraph (3), paragraph (4), or paragraph (6) of section 237(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)), except that if the alien is deportable solely under subparagraph (C) or (D) of paragraph (3) of such section, the alien had not yet reached the age of 16 years at the time the violation was committed.

Interpretation: I'm not even going to pretend that I know what 5) pertains to. I'll do some more reading and get back to you.

But, it seems that under the Act someone who entered the U.S. illegally at, say, 15 years of age could get citizenship by obtaining a diploma or enrolling in an institute of higher education.

I expect fierce Republican opposition to this bill and, most likely, a filibuster.