06/04/07 Here we go again, immigration debate

First order of business for the US Senate is continuing the debate on the immigration reform legislation. Before the Memorial Day break Senators discussed a number of amendments including one to scale back the size of the proposed guest-worker program from as many as 600-thousand laborers a year to 200-thousand. Lawmakers agreed to the amendment offered by New Mexico's Jeff Bingaman who says a guest-worker provision is vital to the ag industry. Bingaman says there's a separate provision designed specifically for ag workers and employers. BINGAMAN "Clearly that is an important part of our agricultural economy. There is a lot of work which is done by immigrants into this country and its work which would be hard to get done. So I think most of the people who've talked to me in the agricultural sector favor going ahead with some kind of immigration reform along the lines we're talking about here." But is the bill now under debate going to make it out of the Senate? Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn knows slim and none when he sees it. COBURN "My suspect is that this bill won't ever reach the President's desk in its present format if you look at the House and it may have trouble getting out of the Senate." Any bill that might clear the Senate faces huge problems in the House. Prior to the break House Republicans were banding together to call it the "Kennedy-Bush Amnesty Program." Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott