http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/06/12/223473.aspx<snip>
From NBC's Ken Strickland
While President Bush is expected to rally GOP Senate support today for a comprehensive immigration reform bill, several Republican senators are pushing Bush to address border security first -- regardless of the bill's fate. In two different letters sent to Bush by two different sets of senators, they strongly suggest their constituents don't trust the Administration's immigration policy.
Georgia Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss are asking the president to send Congress an emergency supplemental spending bill to fund border security. They write that "the message from a majority of Georgians is that they have no trust that the United States Government will enforce the laws contained in this new legislation and secure the border first." They say the Administration's "lack of credibility" gives merit to skeptics.
Another letter signed by nine GOP senators, including some vocal opponents of the comprehensive plan, calls on Bush to enforce existing border security laws "regardless of whether the Senate passes the immigration reform bill." Describing border security as "vital," the group says it's "the best way to restore trust with the American people and facilitate future improvements of our immigration policy."
That letter is signed by Sens. DeMint, Coburn, Enzi, Vitter, Inhofe, Bunning, Grassley, Ensign, and Sessions. Combined with the letter from Isakson and Chambliss, the "border security-first" opinion of represents more than 20% of the Senate GOP caucus.
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