The Presbyterian Washington Office has just sent this note, prepared by the National Immigration forum, regarding the latest actions on 9/11 implementation as it affects immigrants. As always, you may want to go to the PresbyLegislative Action Center at www.capwiz.com/pcusa/mail/compose to put together your own message to the conferees listed below or to the President.   [10-25-04]

October 22, 2004

Here is a brief update on what has happened with the 9/11 implementation legislation that has been in Conference Committee this week.

With time running out before the election, the House and Senate have not reached agreement on their very different 9/11 implementation bills. The chief obstacle to progress has been Title I, the part dealing with reform of our intelligence agencies. The House bill favors the Department of Defense, which now has control over most of the intelligence budget; the Senate bill is in line with the 9/11 Commission recommendations favoring a strong National Intelligence Director.

Public Pressure

But that does not mean that the battle over the anti-immigration provisions included in the House bill has not been intense. It is too early to say how we will ultimately fare. Yesterday, a group called "9/11 Families for a Secure America" took out a full-page ad in Roll Call (a paper circulated on Capitol Hill) supporting the anti-immigration provisions of the House bill and making the claim that the 9/11 Commission recommended the anti-immigration measures included in the House bill. The 9/11 Families for a Secure America is a splinter group of 9/11 victim families that supports the anti-immigration agenda of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). Peter Gadiel, the leader of the group, is on the Board of Directors of FAIR.

On our side, the Chair and Co-Chair of the 9/11 Commission sent a letter to Conferees noting specifically that the anti-immigration provisions in the House bill were not recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, and should be rejected. The steering committee of 9/11 families continued to put strong pressure on Congress in support of the 9/11 Commission recommendations (and therefore the Senate bill). The press has been very much on our side. Today, another splinter group of 9/11 families, "September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows," sent a letter to the Conferees agreeing with the letter sent yesterday by the 9/11 Commissioners specifically saying that, "[t]his bill is not the right occasion for tackling controversial immigration and law enforcement issues that go well beyond the Commission's recommendations." Last but not least, there has been a tremendous amount of advocacy by groups around the country. Here is a sampling of letters and press from the past few days:

Letter from the 9/11 Commissioners (reference to the immigration provisions is on page 4)

Editorials from papers around the country

Letter from pro-immigrant advocacy groups

You can also read the news stories generated this week on this issue by going to the News Clips archives on our Web site

The Conference

Yesterday, Republicans introduced a "compromise" package. On immigration, the "compromise" drops expedited removal, but makes some other measures worse. Democrats have continued to insist that the worst of the anti-immigration provisions be dropped. The White House has issued a Statement of Policy that is more in line with the Senate bill. Most of the action, though, is taking place among four senior members of the Conference Committee: Susan Collins (R-ME), Chair of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee; Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Ranking Member of that Committee; Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), who serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; and Jane Harman (D-CA), who is Ranking Member of that Committee.

At the end of the day Friday, these four Conferees held a press conference to say they would continue working over the weekend and try to wrap up this legislation before the election. However, the closer we get to the elections, the more difficult it will be to call members of Congress back to Washington to vote on a final bill. It is looking increasingly likely (but not definite) that a final agreement will be pushed back to a lame duck session of Congress after the election (when Congress will have to take up other business, such as, for example, passing a budget for the year that began October 1).

Advocacy

In the meantime, the pressure must continue on the Conferees, other members of Congress, and the President. The other side continues to insist (wrongly) that the anti-immigration provisions of the House bill are essential elements of the 9/11 Commission recommendations, and they will try to intimidate any member of Congress who disagrees with them by claiming that by rejecting the anti-immigration provisions, the Representative or Senator is "soft on terrorism." It is not clear that, without your help, enough of the Conferees will continue to hold up under this pressure.

You can communicate a brief message to your Representative and Senators by going to the action alert on the National Immigration Forum Web site

There is a link to a form letter on the Web site of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

In addition, here is a list of phone numbers and fax numbers for members of the Conference Committee:

Senate Conferees

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) - 202-224-2523; 202-224-2693 (fax) ALSO Governmental Affairs Committee at 202-224-4751; 202-224-9603 (fax)

Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) - 202-224-3353; 202-228-1382 (fax)

Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) - 202-224-5641; 202-224-1152 (fax)

Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) - 202-224-2841; 202-228-4131 (fax)

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) - 202-224-4774; 202-224-3514 (fax)

Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) - 202-224-2315; 202-224-6519 (fax)

Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) - 202-224-6253; 202-224-2262 (fax)

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) - 202-224-4041; 202-224-9750 (fax)

Sen. Carl Levin(D-MI) - 202-224-6221; 202-224-1388 (fax)

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) - 202-224-2152; 202-228-0400 (fax)

Sen. John Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) - 202-224-6472; 202-224-7665

Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL) - 202-224-3041; 202-224-2237

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) - 202-224-3224; 202-228-4054


House Conferees

Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) - 202-225-4401; 202-226-0779 (fax) ALSO
Intelligence Committee at 202-225-4121; 202-225-1991 (fax)

Rep. David Dreier (R-CA) - 202-225-2305; 202-225-7018 (fax)

Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL) - 202-225-4561; 202-225-1166 (fax)

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) - 202-225-5672; 202-225-0235 (fax)

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) - 202-225-5101; 202-225-3190 (fax)

Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) - 202-225-8220; 202-226-7290 (fax)

Rep. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) - 202-225-7919; 202-226-0792 (fax)

Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO) - 202-225-2876; 202-225-2695 (fax)


Thanks for all you've done so far, and keep it up!!!


================

Rev. Elenora Giddings Ivory
Director, Washington Office
Presbyterian Church (USA)
202-543-1126

110 Maryland Avenue, NE, Suite 104
Washington, DC 20002

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