WASHINGTON, June 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Numerous recent polls lead to the inescapable conclusion that Americans believe that their government is out of touch with their concerns. No recent legislative issue has illustrated this disconnect more graphically than the current Senate debate over a bill that would grant amnesty to tens of millions of illegal aliens, while offering the American people little more than recycled promises to control illegal immigration in the future.
While politicians from both parties continue to defy the will of the people and press ahead with a massive illegal alien amnesty bill, Georgia's two senators have decided to listen to the people they represent and have announced their intent to oppose a cloture motion that would allow the measure to come to the floor. Acknowledging that the legislation now before the Senate would not achieve the sort of improvements in immigration enforcement that Georgians and the rest of the nation demand, Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson have withdrawn their support for the bill.
"We commend Senators Chambliss and Isakson for their willingness to listen to the concerns of ordinary Americans," said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). "In today's political atmosphere in Washington, where special interests drive the political agenda, the concerns of the people are often drowned out. It is reassuring to know that there are still members of Congress who remember who they are supposed to be representing."
Since the "Grand Bargain" on immigration was first announced by a handful of senators on May 17, there has been an overwhelmingly negative response from the American public. In unprecedented numbers, Senate offices have been flooded with calls and emails from constituents who oppose the bill's plan to grant amnesty to 12 to 20 million illegal aliens and increase the number of foreign guest workers, before securing the nation's borders and preventing illegal aliens from working in this country.
"The people of Georgia deserve a great deal of credit for exercising their responsibilities as citizens and letting their elected representatives know how they felt about a crucial piece of legislation," Stein said. "Senators Chambliss and Isakson deserve credit for recognizing that this is a fundamentally flawed bill that does not serve the interests of Georgians or the nation and does not deserve their support.
"The senators are right that our immigration system needs to be fixed and we stand ready to work with them to enact real reforms that place the interests of the American people first," Stein continued. "By a wide majority, Georgians, and Americans generally, agree that enforcing our immigration laws should not require us to make bargains with the people who have broken our laws. We hope that other members of Congress will also heed the voices of the people back home and defeat this destructive piece of legislation."
FAIR
CONTACT: Ira Mehlman, +1-206-420-7733 or Bob Dane, +1-202-328-7004, both
of FAIR
Web site: http://www.fairus.org/
