Saturday, June 22, 2013

Major changes in 1,200-page immigration amendment; vote is Monday

The Hoeven-Corker border security amendment to the Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform bill is finally out, and it is huge. Released in several parts, it totals 1,190 pages, amounting to a rewrite of large portions of the original bill. While much of the text of those 1,190 pages duplicates portions of the original legislation, there are entirely new passages and significant changes throughout — enough to keep anyone who cares about what is in the bill busy for quite a while.
The problem is, they don’t have quite a while. The Senate will likely vote on the amendment on Monday. That’s not much time to read and digest such a momentous and far-reaching piece of legislation.
On Friday, Republican Sen. Bob Corker anticipated such concerns and sought to reassure the public by saying that everyone will have 75 hours to read the amendment before the vote. “I know we have had a lot of people on the floor who have criticized this legislation without reading it,” Corker said. “I know it has been called a magic amendment. I will just say to people who care about border security — and obviously numbers of people on our side of the aisle care deeply about that — read the bill. By filing cloture today [Friday] on this amendment, it is going to give everybody in this body and in the nation the opportunity to read this piece of legislation for 75 hours before the cloture vote occurs.”

http://washingtonexaminer.com/the-hoeven-corker-immigration-amendment-is-1190-pages-major-new-provisions-lawmakers-rushing-to-read-before-monday-vote/article/2532269 

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