Final immigration bill not likely to include Florida lawmakers' input

[seafan]

Little immigration input expected from Florida

By Larry Lipman

Palm Beach Post Washington Bureau
Friday, March 31, 2006

WASHINGTON — If Congress gets around to writing a final version of an immigration bill, Florida lawmakers could find themselves on the outside looking in.

With the House and Senate on a collision course to pass widely different immigration bills, a final version likely would be hammered out by conferees from both chambers. Bills adopted by a conference committee cannot be amended, they can only be accepted or rejected.

While Florida has much at stake in the immigration debate, including an illegal immigrant population estimated between about 500,000 and nearly 1 million, few if any of the state's lawmakers are likely to be on the conference committee because of their committee assignments and lack of seniority.

Conferees for the immigration bill are likely to come from the House Judiciary Committee, the House Homeland Security Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Neither of Florida's senators — Democrat Bill Nelson or Republican Mel Martinez — serve on the Judiciary Committee, which probably leaves them out.

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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/nation/epaper/2006/03/31/a3a_fla_immigration_0331.html

So we have somewhere between half a million to a million illegal immigrants living and working in Florida, but our representatives in Congress have little chance of contributing to the final hammering out in committee of this controversial immigration bill.


But wait, maybe all it not lost:

Rep. Ric Keller, a Republican from Orlando said "he believes he would have input because he has a close relationship with Sensenbrenner."

And here's even more hope:

Among Homeland Security members, the state's most senior member is Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Longboat Key, who ranks 14th out of the 19 Republicans. Harris ranks eighth out of the nine GOP members of the panel's subcommittee that oversees border security issues.

Remembering back to times when qualified people actually were involved in decisions affecting so many, is becoming more and more difficult.


Hurry back to Florida, Bob Graham. We need you.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. will Katherine ask god to tell her how to vote?