| YEAs ---46 (Villains) | ||
| Akaka (D-HI) Bennett (R-UT) Biden (D-DE) Boxer (D-CA) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Clinton (D-NY) Conrad (D-ND) Craig (R-ID) Dodd (D-CT) Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI) Feinstein (D-CA) Graham (R-SC) | Gregg (R-NH) Hagel (R-NE) Inouye (D-HI) Kennedy (D-MA) Kerry (D-MA) Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI) Kyl (R-AZ) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (ID-CT) Lincoln (D-AR) Lott (R-MS) Lugar (R-IN) Martinez (R-FL) | McCain (R-AZ) Menendez (D-NJ) Mikulski (D-MD) Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Obama (D-IL) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Salazar (D-CO) Schumer (D-NY) Snowe (R-ME) Specter (R-PA) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wyden (D-OR) |
| NAYs ---53 (Heroes) | ||
| Alexander (R-TN) Allard (R-CO) Barrasso (R-WY) Baucus (D-MT) Bayh (D-IN) Bingaman (D-NM) Bond (R-MO) Brown (D-OH) Brownback (R-KS) Bunning (R-KY) Burr (R-NC) Byrd (D-WV) Chambliss (R-GA) Coburn (R-OK) Cochran (R-MS) Coleman (R-MN) Collins (R-ME) Corker (R-TN) | Cornyn (R-TX) Crapo (R-ID) DeMint (R-SC) Dole (R-NC) Domenici (R-NM) Dorgan (D-ND) Ensign (R-NV) Enzi (R-WY) Grassley (R-IA) Harkin (D-IA) Hatch (R-UT) Hutchison (R-TX) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Landrieu (D-LA) McCaskill (D-MO) McConnell (R-KY) Murkowski (R-AK) | Nelson (D-NE) Pryor (D-AR) Roberts (R-KS) Rockefeller (D-WV) Sanders (I-VT) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Smith (R-OR) Stabenow (D-MI) Stevens (R-AK) Sununu (R-NH) Tester (D-MT) Thune (R-SD) Vitter (R-LA) Voinovich (R-OH) Warner (R-VA) Webb (D-VA) |
| Not Voting - 1 | ||
| Johnson (D-SD) | ||
Despite this victory, now is hardly the time to rest. The people has spoken quite loudly on the issue of illegal immigration, and it is time to demand real action. After this fight, the amnesty crowd will avoid this issue like the plague, but there is still real work to be done, real reform to be made.
The first is to demand border and national security. For the most part, all that needs to be done is for our government to enforce and follow existing laws. The building of a border fence which was signed into law last year must be completed. The border patrol must be given the tools and the support necessary to protect this nation and stop the swarm of illegal aliens across the border. The judicial and executive witch hunt of border patrol agents must be stopped - agents should no longer be punished for doing their job. Illegal aliens must be held completely accountable for their disregard of the law of the land, both for entering this country without permission, and for any other laws broken during their stay. Local police must be given the tools and authority necessary to assist in the battle.
Secondly, the incentives for illegals to come here must be eliminated. Businesses which hire illegals must be held accountable for breaking the law. Landlords who knowingly provide housing to illegal aliens must face punishment. Government services and handouts, including free health care and education, for illegal aliens must be eliminated.
The federal government, overall, has proven unwilling to do what is necessary to stop the flow of invaders and secure the borders. Despite more empty promises made by the supporters of the awful amnesty bill, promises which cannot be trusted one iota given the past record of this government, the citizenship of this country does not trust our representatives and judicial system to do what is right and necessary. The lies of the past cannot be forgotten, and awareness of these untruths played a major role in the public's reaction to this latest legislative attempt.
The proponents of the amnesty bill often told the people that "something must be done," but the people saw through this empty reasoning. Something RIGHT must be done. Something EFFECTIVE must be done. If a man is drowning in a river, something must be done. But that something should not be shooting him in the head. It should be rescue. To just do something is not enough. That something needs to work. And no one believes you if you say you're going to do something, but you sat around doing nothing - or worse than nothing - while three people drowned before him. Or if you actively prevented others from rescuing those people as well - stopped others from throwing out ropes. And, even worse, you pushed more people that couldn't swim into the rapids; your actions encouraged them to take a devastating dip.
This nation is threatening to be drowned by waves of illegal aliens. Presidents, Senators and Congressmen will visit disaster zones after fires, earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes, but fail to visit the disaster zones that are the American neighborhoods that have been devastated by the storm of criminals brought to this land as a result of inaction and turning a blind eye to policies and procedures that have created an open border atmosphere.
Am I optimistic that the current administration and Congress will awaken to these troubles and toughen up their stances and actions against illegal aliens? Not much. To some degree the fight must be taken to the local level as well. Communities are already beginning to rebel against a federal system that has abandoned them and ignored their needs. Local ordinances and a support of local law enforcement against illegals are the beginning of the way to both fight the battle at a community level, and to increasingly make the power brokers and special interest panderers in Washington aware of just how critical this issue has become.
We, the people, have slapped the government across the face for not only their failure, but their willingness to sell out the interests of this country to special interests, be they race-baiters and America-haters, or conscienceless shady business opportunists. And that slap has stung.
Those opposed to amnesty for illegal immigrants were branded "extremists," but they were truly the only moderates, the only rationalists, in the debate. The architects of amnesty legislation called themselves compromisers, but let their own extreme lack of integrity motivate them to ignore the best interests of this country and the will of the people. The only thing they truly compromised was their own honor and their own commitment to serve this nation and its citizens.
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