THANKS
TO ALL WHO MADE PHONE CALLS, SENT FAXES, DONATED TO GRASSROOTS
MOBILIZATION AND VISITED REPS' OFFICES TO STOP THE MILITARY AMNESTY
The
House Rules Committee last night bowed to the wishes of its Members'
constituents and voted to keep military amnesty amendments off the giant
Defense bill coming soon to the floor for a vote.
We have been intensely mobilizing many of you in the grassroots for weeks to persuade the committee to do just that.
The
committee was under huge pressure from all kinds of amnesty advocates
both left and right to include what would be a relatively small amnesty
so it could be used by the Senate to advance the giant amnesty it passed
last year.
The grassroots won this won. Take a bow.
But we have at least two more places we are likely to have to kill the military amnesty efforts after June 10.
I
know that being on our mailing list means you get lots and lots of
requests for actions -- especially when your Members of Congress are on a
committee considering immigration matters.
But
I hope on a day like this -- whether or not you were directly involved
with the effort with the Rules Committee -- that you can derive
satisfaction from the fact that you and your fellow Americans in this
network have made such a difference on amendments that many in the media
said were so popular that they were almost sure to go through.
THIS IS THE 3RD TIME YOU HAVE STOPPED THE AMNESTY THIS SPRING
1. The fight started over a month ago when we first caught wind of a secret plan in the House that was being assisted by Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.)
The
main threat came from Rep. Jeff Denham's (R-Calif.) ENLIST ACT that he
was trying to have included in the National Defense Authorization Act of
2015. He said Rep. Cantor had encouraged him to push the amendment
which would grant amnesty to illegal aliens who came to the country
under a certain age and then sign up to serve in the military.
But
under immense pressure from grassroots activists, several Members of
the House Armed Services Committee opposed the amendment despite it
starting with a lot of bi-partisan support. They and the grassroots
persuaded the committee's chairman, Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), to
finally announce he wouldn't allow the Denham amnesty amendment to be
part of the original bill.
2.
Rep. Denham then pushed to have his amnesty offered as an amendment
during the Armed Services Committee's markup of the bill. We did
another grassroots mobilization on the committee.
Again Chairman McKeon was responsive to the grassroots and made sure the amendment wasn't offered.
3.
After the Armed Services Committee passed the Defense bill without the
amnesty provision, Rep. Denham pushed to offer his bill as an amendment
on the House floor when the Defense bill came up for a vote by all
Representatives.
That
is when our grassroots mobilization began on the Rules Committee and
House Leadership which usually gets what it wants out of the committee.
Last night, when the committee met, Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) ruled Denham's amnesty amendment out of order.
The
committee also ruled against an amendment from Rep. Mike Coffman
(R-Colo.) that would have allowed recipients of Pres. Obama's Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals to enlist in the military.
And
it ruled out of order an amendment from Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas)
that would have allowed illegal aliens to enroll in the military
academies.
SPIRITED PRIMARY CHALLENGE AGAINST REP. CANTOR PLAYING A ROLE
Although
Majority Leader Cantor had been behind the amnesty push, according to
Denham, Cantor highly publicized to his home district at the end that he
was opposing adding the amnesty to the Defense bill.
Most
commentators attributed Cantor's change of position to the fact that
his immigration positions are under attack from Prof. Dave Brat in the
Republican Primary to be held on June 10. In public gatherings in his
district during the campaign, Cantor has faced stiff and visible
opposition, according to media reports.
You can view the comparison between Cantor's and Brat's immigration positions here:
To look at the websites and find how to support either race, click on their photo on that Candidate Comparison page.
BOEHNER & CANTOR APPEAR STILL TO BE COMMITTED TO SOME KIND OF FLOOR VOTE AFTER VIRGINIA PRIMARY
Many
of the news commentators in Washington are saying that Cantor and
Boehner have opposed ONLY adding the military amnesty to the Defense
bill and are still hoping to have it come to the floor after key
primaries are over as a stand-alone bill. In fact, Boehner just this
week promised another chance for the amnesty later.
As that threat becomes more clear, we will once again come to you for specific action.
Thanks
again for all the difference you have made thus far. I know that many
of you are weary from having to fight both the Republican and Democratic
leadership over and over again on the same bills and issues. Your
weariness is what they are counting on. They have the money, the staffs
and the power to just keep coming back until the grassroots stop
fighting back.
Our job is to never stop fighting back.
| ROY BECK, NUMBERSUSA PRESIDENT |
| Wed, May 21st |
| 
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