Key US senator sees deal this week on immigration - KVUE

Associated Press

Posted on April 7, 2013 at 7:33 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) — A noisy debate over the flawed U.S. immigration system will begin in earnest this week as senators finalize a bipartisan bill to secure the border, allow tens of thousands of foreign workers into the country and grant eventual citizenship to the estimated 11 million people living here illegally.

Negotiators warned of struggles ahead, but all involved are optimistic that it's time to make the biggest changes to the nation's immigration laws in more than a quarter-century.

"There will be a great deal of unhappiness about this proposal because everybody didn't get what they wanted," Republican Sen. John McCain, a leader of the eight senators negotiating the legislation, said Sunday on CBS.

Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, another of the eight senators involved, told CBS he's hoping for a bipartisan deal by the end of this week.

In a bitterly divided Congress, the immigration bill appears to be one of the few major pieces of legislation that is likely to receive bipartisan support and become law. For many opposition Republicans, their loss in last year's presidential election, when Latino and Asians voters backed President Barack Obama in big numbers, resonates as evidence that they must confront the immigration issue.

"Every corner of the Republican Party ... is now understanding there has to be an earned pathway to citizenship," Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said.

A deal on immigration is a top priority for Obama in his second term, and senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer said Sunday on Fox that the bill being developed in the Senate is consistent with Obama's approach. He didn't answer directly when asked whether Obama would sign legislation making a path to citizenship contingent on first securing the border.

Obama has stressed that a path to citizenship should not have major hurdles, and some immigration advocates believe that's what a requirement for a secure border would amount to.

But Republicans involved in the Senate negotiations have made clear that border security is a must for them before those living here illegally can be allowed to move toward citizenship.

"We are going to secure that border and it will be tied to a pathway to citizenship or there will be no deal," Graham said.

Graham also suggested that disagreement over a new low-skilled worker program could still be hanging up an overall immigration deal — even after an agreement a week ago between the AFL-CIO labor federation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, an influential pro-business lobbying group.

The hard-won deal between labor and business would ultimately allow up to 200,000 workers a year into the U.S. to fill jobs in construction, hospitality, nursing homes and other areas where employers now say they have a difficult time hiring Americans or legally bringing in foreign workers. Even after the deal was struck, some industries, such as construction, continued to voice complaints about the terms.

Without offering details, Graham said on NBC that negotiators were revisiting the low-skilled worker deal. But he issued a statement a short time later saying he was confident the agreement would hold.

Graham sounded optimistic overall, predicting the bill would pass the 100-member Senate with 70 votes in favor. Senators believe an overwhelming bipartisan vote is needed in the Democratic-led Senate to ensure a chance of success in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Floor action could start in the Senate in May, Schumer said.

___

Associated Press writer Erica Werner contributed.

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South Dakota Senator Won't Run Again - New York Times

WASHINGTON — Senator Tim Johnson, the South Dakota Democrat who suffered a major brain hemorrhage a month after his party retook the Senate in 2006 and recovered enough to run again two years later, announced Tuesday that he would not seek re-election in 2014.

Jay Pickthorn/Argus Leader, via Associated Press

Senator Tim Johnson at a news conference Tuesday announcing his retirement when his term ends in 2015.

“I will be 68 years old at the end of this term and it’s time for me to say goodbye,” Mr. Johnson said during a brief news conference in Vermillion, S.D. After thanking his family and staff he added: “The Bible says that there is a time for every season under heaven. It is now our season to spend more time with our six grandchildren and in the state we love.”

Mr. Johnson’s decision, coming on the heels of a spate of retirement announcements from Democrats, opens up a potential new opportunity for Republicans in the state that President Obama lost by a large margin last year. Further, the retirement of Mr. Johnson, a moderate who is chairman of the powerful banking committee, will open up that slot, should Democrats maintain a majority. His replacement could be critical as Congress continues to deal with regulatory issues.

Senators Carl Levin of Michigan, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey and John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, all Democrats, have said they will not seek re-election. Two Republicans, Senators Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Mike Johanns of Nebraska, have also said they will not run.

Republicans, who are hoping that 2014 will finally be their year after two opportunities to take back the Senate majority have slipped from their fingers, are eying Mr. Johnson’s seat eagerly.

“South Dakota voters rejected the liberal agenda by nearly 20 points in 2012, and it’s a prime pick-up opportunity for Republicans regardless of whose name ends up on the ballot,” said Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas, who is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Former Gov. Mike Rounds, a Republican, had already planned to challenge Mr. Johnson. Another possible contender would be Representative Kristi Noem, who came in on a Republican wave in 2010.

Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, thanked Mr. Johnson for making his decision early enough to allow his party to mount a strong defense of the seat.

Mr. Johnson’s success has been a thing of wonder since almost the beginning of his Senate career. After serving in the House for five terms, Mr. Johnson was elected to the Senate in 1996, winning by two percentage points in an expensive race for the low-cost state.

In 2002 he ran again, beating John Thune (who went on to win a Senate seat in 2004) by a mere 524 votes of more than 330,000 cast, and focused largely on agricultural issues, taking moderate positions along an array of issues.

In 2006, just a month after ascending to new powers with his party’s victory, he suffered a brain hemorrhage from which he struggled to recover, threatening his party’s fragile majority. In 2008 he ran again and won after proving that, with slurred speech and the frequent use of a scooter to ferry him around the Capitol, he could still manage his Senate career.

Among Democrats in South Dakota who could succeed him, the greatest speculation centers on Mr. Johnson’s son Brendan and former Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, who was defeated by Ms. Noem and has kept a relatively low profile since but remains popular in the state.

“I’ve not discussed in detail what comes next, whether it’s Stephanie or Brendan or whatever,” Mr. Johnson said, in response to questions about whom he would like to see succeed him.

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GOP Senator Says He Has a Gay Son, and Backs Gay Marriage - New York Times

WASHINGTON — Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, a rising national star in the Republican Party, announced on Friday that he has a gay son and could no longer justify his opposition to same-sex marriage.

Mr. Portman’s revelation makes him the only sitting Republican senator to publicly support giving gay men and lesbians the right to marry, and one of the most prominent so far of a growing number of Republicans to publicly oppose their party on the issue.

In a series of interviews and an op-ed article published in The Columbus Dispatch, Mr. Portman, at times nervously wringing his hands, said that he did not want his son Will, who is 21, treated any differently because of his sexuality.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that for me, personally, I think this is something that we should allow people to do, to get married, and to have the joy and stability of marriage that I’ve had for over 26 years,” he told CNN. “That I want all of my children to have, including our son, who is gay.”

Mr. Portman’s announcement raises more difficult questions for the Republican Party, which is trying to rebuild after the loss of the 2012 presidential election but still holds firmly to positions on issues like gay marriage and immigration that are alienating to many voters.

His position drew a cool response from some quarters and puts him at odds with his party’s leaders in Congress, who have long looked at him as a faithful conservative and loyal ally. A spokesman for Speaker John A. Boehner, who is also from Ohio, said Friday that while Mr. Boehner “respects” Mr. Portman’s position, “the speaker continues to believe that marriage is between a man and a woman.”

A spokesman for Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, had no immediate comment but said that Mr. Portman did call the senator this week to inform him that he would be making the announcement.

In making the argument for same-sex marriage, Mr. Portman chose not only to articulate his thoughts in personal terms, but did so in a way intended to resonate with conservatives as well.

“We conservatives believe in personal liberty and minimal government interference in people’s lives,” he wrote in the op-ed. “We also consider the family unit to be the fundamental building block of society. We should encourage people to make long-term commitments to each other and build families, so as to foster strong, stable communities and promote personal responsibility.”

Mr. Portman, a former budget director for President George W. Bush, was on the Romney campaign’s short list of possible vice-presidential candidates last year. And he said that he had disclosed his son’s sexuality — which he learned of two years ago — to the campaign.

Beth Myers, the Romney adviser who led the vice-presidential candidate search, said on Friday that the issue had nothing to do with the decision not to select Mr. Portman.

Mr. Portman was a sponsor of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that is now being reviewed by the Supreme Court, with arguments scheduled for this month. That case, he said, was a factor in his decision to speak out.

Last month, dozens of prominent Republicans — including top aides to Mr. Bush, four former governors, two members of the House of Representatives and Ms. Myers — signed a legal brief urging the Supreme Court to declare that gay couples have a constitutional right to wed.

As a congressman and later as a senator, Mr. Portman received low ratings from the Human Rights Campaign, a national group promoting gay rights. He received a zero out of 100 as a member the House in the 108th Congress. And in the 112th Congress from 2011 to early 2013, he received a 15 out of 100 after his election to the Senate.

“At the time, my position on marriage for same-sex couples was rooted in my faith tradition that marriage is a sacred bond between a man and a woman,” he wrote in the op-ed. “Knowing that my son is gay prompted me to consider the issue from another perspective.”

Religious conservatives reacted strongly to Mr. Portman on Friday, with some saying that he had turned his back on Christianity. “Senator Portman speaks like so many who call themselves Christians but actually don’t spend much time dwelling on the Word of God,” wrote Erick Erickson, the conservative commentator, on Twitter.

Others were harsher. The Traditional Values Coalition, a religious group that is often vocal on gay issues, issued a statement that equated homosexuality with drunken driving and mocked Mr. Portman, writing, “My child is a drunk driver and I love him.”

Will Portman did not respond to e-mails seeking comment on Friday. But he posted on his Twitter page, “Especially proud of my dad today.”

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