No one’s read it, but yes, we need to pass it, so we know what’s in it.
Via Politico:
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a chief Republican proponent of immigration reform, says he’s confident the Gang of Eight bill can net the 70 votes he’s been shooting for.
“I think we’re on the verge of getting 70 votes … We’re very, very close to getting 70 votes,” Graham said on “Fox News Sunday.”
The South Carolina senator said the bill, which includes a “border surge” plan. would offer sufficient southern border security, saying “We have secured our border in a way I could not have imagined 4 or 5 years ago.”
The Senate could pass a reform package by the end of the week, but the bill could face a tall hurdle in the Republican-controlled House.
After taking a drubbing in a 2012 election which saw many Latinos flock to the polls to vote for President Barack Obama, Graham urged his party to get something done.
“If it fails and we are blamed for its failure, we’re in trouble as a party,” he said. “We need to grow this party.”
On the other hand, Sen. Sessions disputes that count:
A vocal foe of immigration legislation remained confident on Sunday the bill currently in the Senate won’t pass.
“They say it had 70 votes last week, and then all of a sudden, it started sinking when people learned more about it,” Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “If people find out this amendment [concerning border security] does not accomplish what the sponsors believe it does, I think the bill could be back in trouble again.”
He was referencing a new proposal, from Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.), that would pour massive resources into securing the border as part of a broader immigration deal.
“I’m opposed to the bill because it doesn’t do what it says,” Sessions said. “This bill grants amnesty first, and a mere promise of enforcement in the future, even with the Corker-Hoeven amendment, of which has been put now in a 1200-page vote we’ll have Monday afternoon that nobody has read.”
He said the amendment is “merely an authorization” and many of its security provisions wouldn’t kick in for years, if at all.