The Republicans have taken note of our opposition.
(08-04) 04:00 PDT Washington -- An anti-immigration backlash has taken hold among Republicans in the Capitol, led in some cases by the staunchest supporters - Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina - of the failed Senate bill derided by many as amnesty.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a San Jose Democrat, fended off GOP efforts Friday to block what in normal times would be noncontroversial "private bills" to remedy the most compelling individual plights of a handful of illegal immigrants caught in the labyrinth of immigration law.
Late Thursday night, Republicans walked out of a House vote to protest what they said was an attempt by Democrats to reverse a GOP win on a motion to deny benefits to illegal immigrants in an agriculture spending bill.
Republicans said the vote was gaveled to a close as members were still voting, and that they actually prevailed 215-213.
Democrats apologized the next day for the snafu, but refused to change the vote in which they ultimately defeated the anti-illegal immigrant measure. The National Republican Congressional Committee issued a press release Friday with a video clip of the vote, accusing Democratic leaders of interfering to "strong-arm their politically vulnerable members into switching their votes in order to defeat the measure and deliver benefits for illegals."
We brought you the whole story on that mess here and here. Ending in an investigative committee set up on the misconduct of the Democratic heating and stealing of that vote.
Wapo tells us there will now be a special select committee, with subpoena powers, to investigate this whole matter.
The House last night unanimously agreed to create a special select committee, with subpoena powers, to investigate Republican allegations that Democratic leaders had stolen a victory from the House GOP on a parliamentary vote late Thursday night.
The move capped a remarkable day that started with Republicans marching out of the House in protest near midnight Thursday, was punctuated by partisan bickering, and ended with Democratic hopes for a final legislative rush fading. Even a temporary blackout of the House chamber's vote tally board led to suspicions and accusations of skullduggery.
[...]
The agreement to form a special committee was extraordinary. Such powerful investigative committees are usually reserved for issues such as the Watergate scandal and the funneling of profits from Iranian arms sales to the Nicaraguan contras in the 1980s.
"I don't know when something like this has happened before," said House deputy historian Fred W. Beuttler. He called the decision "incredible."
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) accepted GOP calls for an investigation. "I do not believe there was any wrongdoing by any member of the House. I do believe a mistake was made," he said. "And I regret it."
Now to continue with the SFGate article:
House Republicans have been attaching immigration provisions to a host of bills covering everything from health care to agriculture, usually to deny federal benefits to illegal immigrants.
"The environment is fairly toxic," said Doug Rivlin, spokesman for the National Immigration Forum, a pro-immigrant group. "Where the Republican Party seemed to be divided before on immigration, now they are united on attacking illegal immigration."
Read the rest of that article...
We all must continue to watch this issue, very closely because the Democrats and far left continue to try to use back door methods, namely the Dream Act and we have to continue to call and make our voices heard so that our Republican politicians will make sure these bills do not get slipped in behind our backs.
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