Mood:  chatty

More Good News from Iraq: Sunnis, Shi'a Unite Against Al-Qaeda / Oil-Share Talks Continue

Story after story on good things happening over there...
Sunnis, Shi'a Unite Against Al-Qaeda
Sunnis Rebel Against Barbaric Al-Qaeda
Oil-Share Talks Continue Despite Bomb

More Good News from Iraq

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Dale in Salt Lake City, welcome to the EIB, sir. It's great to have you.

CALLER: Thank you very much, Rush, and from a former Democrat I really appreciate all you do. I just had a quick question for you.

RUSH: Yeah?

CALLER: You're well connected.

RUSH: Yup.

CALLER: I think you are, and I think you know what really is happening with the war. I know it's going to be a topic of conversation here with the Democrats tonight, and just from your perspective, what do we need to do over there? Are things going well? Do we need to add more troops. Do the troops have their hands tied behind their back? What do you feel is really going on in Iraq?

RUSH: I tell you, I think the surge is working. I believe the generals and what they've said, that the security measures are really beefing up. There's all kinds of great news out there today. There's a story from the Times Online in the UK: "Al-Qaeda Faces Rebellion From the Ranks -- Sickened by the group's barbarity, Iraqi insurgents are giving information to coalition forces -- Fed up with being part of a group that cuts off a person's face with piano wire to teach others a lesson, dozens of low-level members of al-Qaeda in Iraq are daring to become informants for the US military in a hostile Baghdad neighbourhood. The ground-breaking move in Doura is part of a wider trend that has started in other al-Qaeda hotspots across the country and in which Sunni insurgent groups and tribal sheikhs have stood together with the coalition against the extremist movement. 'They are turning. We are talking to people who we believe have worked for al-Qaeda in Iraq and want to reconcile and have peace,' said Colonel Ricky Gibbs, commander of the 4th Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, which oversees the area." We've also captured the #1 Al-Qaeda in Iraq guy, and he's talking. He's admitting that this whole thing of Al-Qaeda in Iraq is a myth. It is a myth that they have created in order to perpetuate the notion that there is a civil war going on in Iraq, where there isn't. There is no Al-Qaeda in Iraq! It's just Al-Qaeda. Operatives from Pakistan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, other places are pouring into the country.

These are not native Iraqis that have joined Al-Qaeda. They're having to import these people, and the surge is working. This is how you beat them, is you turn their own people against them, and that apparently is happening. I don't have any inside information into what's going on over there. I'm connected, as you say, but I don't know anything more than what anybody who has access to media and what the generals are saying, and I think one of the indications, incidentally, that things are going better than anybody thought they would, is the Democrats' desire to kill the surge now rather than wait until September when the final report from General Petraeus comes out. I think they're desperate to get this done and over with because they cannot withstand good news, politically. They just can't withstand it. They've already told us that we have lost. So I think there's an uptick. I think things are happening. When you have the bad guys start turning on each other and when you capture bad guys, they start giving up information, you're obviously on the right track. It's taken some time. I don't know how long it will be sustained. But this can be won, and it could be done with the vision that the president has had -- and that's what scares the Democrats, frankly.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Speaking of Iraq, there are a couple other stories here that indicate great news, and this is along the lines of the Al-Qaeda underlings becoming informants, being so outraged at the barbarity they're seeing. This is in the Washington Times today: "Iraqi Tribes Reach Security Accord." The thrust of the story is that 25 local tribes have joined the US against Al-Qaeda. This is the first agreement book between the Sunnis and the Shi'a. Twenty-five local tribes. Something is happening over there. "Members of the First Cavalry Division based at nearby Camp Taji helped broker the deal Saturday with the tribal leaders who agreed to use members of more than 25 local tribes to protect the area around Taji from both Sunni and Shi'ite extremists." You couple this with the other story, and something's happening. I don't know enough here to understand it all, but something different, something new is happening. People from the Sunni and Shi'a agreeing with us, uniting with us against Al-Qaeda, tells me that the surge is working, and they've reconciled, at least to the extent that they want to defeat Al-Qaeda. They may not have reconciled to get along with each other forever, the Sunnis and Shi'a, but they have reconciled to defeat Al-Qaeda. Also, they're working and meeting on the oil revenue law over there. "Oil Law Stalls in Iraq as Bomb Aims at Sheiks," but they're still meeting about it. What do you bet they get their oil law fixed in Iraq before we fix Social Security?

END TRANSCRIPT
Read the Background Material...
UK Times: Al-Qaeda faces rebellion from the ranks
HA: Report: Some AQI rank and file turning on leadership?
FOX: Members Rebelling From Al Qaeda in Iraq
WT: Iraqi tribes reach security accord
NYT: Oil Law Stalls in Iraq as Bomb Aims at Sheiks
*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.
Rush Limbaugh.com ** More Good News from Iraq

Posted by yaahoo_ at 8:42 PM EDT

Updated: Monday, 23 July 2007 8:57 PM EDT

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Mood:  a-ok

Military says top al-Qaeda in Iraq figure captured...

US: Top al-Qaida in Iraq Figure Captured

The U.S. command said Wednesday the highest-ranking Iraqi in the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq has been arrested, adding that information from him indicates the group's foreign-based leadership wields considerable influence over the Iraqi chapter.

Khaled Abdul-Fattah Dawoud Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, also known as Abu Shahid, was captured in Mosul on July 4, said Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a military spokesman.

"Al-Mashhadani is believed to be the most senior Iraqi in the al-Qaida in Iraq network," Bergner said. He said al-Mashhadani was a close associate of Abu Ayub al-Masri, the Egyptian-born head of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Bergner said al-Mashhadani served as an intermediary between al-Masri and Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri.

"In fact, communication between the senior al-Qaida leadership and al-Masri frequently went through al-Mashhadani," Bergner said.

"Along with al-Masri, al-Mashhadani co-founded a virtual organization in cyberspace called the Islamic State of Iraq in 2006," Bergner said. "The Islamic State of Iraq is the latest efforts by al-Qaida to market itself and its goal of imposing a Taliban-like state on the Iraqi people."

Yahoo Asia News ~ Associated Press ** US: Top al-Qaida in Iraq Figure Captured
Related:
• This Blog *** Commander says Iraq surge operations have 'significant' impact

In other developments throughout Iraq:
• Marines from Company I, Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, discovered 500, one hundred-pound bags of ammonium nitrate July 11.

• An Iraqi citizen who has been working with Coalition Forces during the past week led them to two caches in Qarghuli Village, Iraq, a known terrorist safe haven.

Also: (.PDF File) • 50,000 Pounds of Ammonium Nitrate!, Confiscated in Iraq
U.S. Marines Ambush Insurgents In Ramadi, (...or how to wake-up Terrorist Tenants)
• Herald News Daily ~ AP - Charles J. Hanley ** Air Force quietly building Iraq presence

• American Forces Press Service ** Two Terrorists Killed, 21 Detained in Iraq Raids, Huge Weapons Caches Seized

• London Free Press ** 200 explosive belts seized at Syria-Iraq border

Posted by yaahoo_ at 9:24 AM EDT

Updated: Wednesday, 18 July 2007 9:37 AM EDT

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Mood:  chatty

  House GOP tightens regulations for illegal immigrants

House Republicans scored another procedural victory Thursday night, adding language to a Democratic housing bill that would make it harder for illegal immigrants to get housing assistance.

The House passed the GOP motion, called a “motion to recommit” on a 233-186 vote. It would require recipients of public housing assistance to provide proof of legal residency, such as a Social Security card or passport.

Motions to recommit are traditionally one of the few tools the minority party in the House has to affect legislation on the floor. The motion, sponsored by Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), would essentially amend the bill by sending it back to committee, changing it and instantaneously bringing it back to the floor. The underlying bill passed 383-83.

House Republicans have successfully used the motions as a guerilla procedural tactic 15 times this session. Earlier this year, they temporarily stalled a bill to provide a House member to D.C. with a motion that would have tied it to wiping out the District’s gun ban.

When Democrats considered altering the rules governing the motions in May, the GOP shut down the floor for hours until Democrats promised to hold off on changes.

When Republicans were in charge, leaders issued blanket orders that Republicans were to vote against all such procedural motions.

Republicans offered another motion to recommit Thursday night that would have turned the Iraq withdrawal bill into an overhaul of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. It was ruled non-germane, and the House upheld the appeal on a party-line vote, 224-197.

The Hill ~ Mike Soraghan ** House GOP tightens regulations for illegal immigrants

They "added language" that would "make it harder" for illegal aliens to get housing? Whoopty-freakin'-do. While this is certainly a step in the right direction, it doesn't go nearly far enough.

It needs to be not only harder, but impossible. It also needs to be impossible for them to get jobs, education, food stamps, welfare, etc. Why do we not enforce the laws we already have?

I'd really like to see states taking things into their own hands, and bill the federal government for the cost. I'd also love (though it will never happen) to see the federal government withhold foreign aid in the amount it costs us to send all of the illegal aliens back to their respective countries.

Posted by yaahoo_ at 5:28 PM EDT

Updated: Monday, 16 July 2007 5:37 PM EDT

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Commander says Iraq surge

operations have 'significant' impact

Iraqi forces patrol alongside Marines during a recent sweeping operation in Baghdadi, Iraq, July 5, 2007. The operation served as both a test of the Iraqi Army's abilities, and a sweeping mission to clear weapons from the area. Courtesy photo.

BAGHDAD -- Ongoing anti-insurgent operations conducted in and around Baghdad and to the south of Iraq’s capital city are achieving continued success, a senior U.S. military officer said Friday during a teleconference with retired military analysts.U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Rich Lynch, commander of Multi-National Division-Center and U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, said he is optimistic that the surge will reduce violence in Baghdad while seriously disrupting insurgent operations in Iraq.

“Eventually, I believe you’ll see (an) improved security situation inside of Baghdad” due to the surge operations, he said. “But, it’s not going to happen overnight.”

Seeing on TV that the surge has minimal impact on the insurgents, “causes me great confusion,” he noted.

In reality, U.S. and Iraqi security forces participating in Operation Marne Torch are busily knocking out insurgent sanctuaries located within his battle space, Lynch said, which includes parts of eastern and southern Baghdad, as well as Najaf, Karbala, Babil and Wasit provinces.

“We’ve had significant impact on the enemy with the surge forces,” Lynch asserted. “I contend that they are indeed being successful.” Yet, he cautioned it will take some time to gauge the overall effectiveness of the surge operations.

Operation Marne Torch is one of several ongoing operations that are part of an overall offensive against insurgents in Iraq. U.S. troops to Iraq earlier this year as a surge of forces to assist the Iraqi government in confronting the insurgency. called Operation Phantom Thunder, which began June 15, once all of the surge troops were in place. President Bush directed a deployment of about 30,000 additional troops.

Many surge-related operations designed to eliminate enemy activity in Baghdad and its environs are being conducted within Multi-National Division-Center’s battle space, Lynch said. Since it was launched nearly a month ago, Operation Marne Torch has killed or captured 300 insurgents and netted 60 large enemy weapons caches, the general reported.

When he surveyed his area of operations in March before all the surge troops had arrived, Lynch observed there were four enemy sanctuaries that needed to be taken out.

Those sanctuaries were used by Sunni and Shiite insurgents, as well as al Qaeda in Iraq operatives, because “there weren’t any security forces” in the area, Lynch explained.

“So, we’ve got major operations across my battle space to disrupt those four sanctuaries,” Lynch said. One ongoing operation is focused on knocking out Sunni-insurgent strongholds in the Tigris River valley region, including the Arab Jabour area south of Baghdad.

Lynch said another offensive, Marne Avalanche, has just commenced against Sunni and Shiite insurgents operating in the Euphrates River valley.

And, a top al-Qaeda in Iraq chieftain believed responsible for the downing of a U.S. helicopter in April 2006 and the adduction and killing of two Soldiers in June 2006 was apprehended July 9 thanks to tips from Iraqi citizens, Lynch said. Iraqi citizens had tipped off Coalition forces about the location of a large enemy weapons cache that day, he noted, while local Iraqi militia had captured the suspected terrorist and turned him over to coalition authorities.

Lynch also pointed to suspected Iranian support of insurgents in Iraq, noting his troops have found numerous rocket-propelled grenades and other ordnance, including powerful explosive-formed-penetrator munitions, with Iranian markings.

The Iranian ordnance is being trucked-in into Iraq from the border in Wasit province, Lynch explained, noting much of it has been delivered to Shiite-backed insurgent groups. Lynch said U.S. and Iraqi troops, including a brigade from the country of Georgia, are setting up additional checkpoints in that area to intercept such cross-border arms shipments.

Yesterday, Coalition troops patrolling east of the Tigris River destroyed 40 enemy-emplaced, Iranian-sourced rockets that were aimed at U.S. troops, Lynch said.

(Story by Gerry J. Gilmore American Forces Press Service)
Multi-National Force - Iraq ~ American Forces Press Service - Gerry J. Gilmore **
Commander says Iraq surge operations have ‘significant’ impact

Next Story >

In other developments throughout Iraq:
• Marines from Company I, Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, discovered 500, one hundred-pound bags of ammonium nitrate July 11.

• An Iraqi citizen who has been working with Coalition Forces during the past week led them to two caches in Qarghuli Village, Iraq, a known terrorist safe haven.

Related: (.PDF File) • 50,000 Pounds of Ammonium Nitrate!, Confiscated in Iraq
U.S. Marines Ambush Insurgents In Ramadi, (...or how to wake-up Terrorist Tenants)
• Herald News Daily ~ AP - Charles J. Hanley ** Air Force quietly building Iraq presence

Why should we listen to him? He's an actual General actually in Iraq fighting the actual war!!! I'd much rather get my military news from the libtards in New York, Washington, and Los Angeles.

Posted by yaahoo_ at 2:38 AM EDT

Updated: Sunday, 15 July 2007 3:04 AM EDT

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Mood:  bright

6th Circuit Reverses 2006 Halt to NSA Wiretapping Program...

Court rejects Ohio domestic spying suit

CINCINNATI -- A federal appeals court Friday ordered the dismissal of a lawsuit challenging President Bush's domestic spying program, saying the plaintiffs had no standing to sue.

The 2-1 ruling by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel vacated a 2006 order by a lower court in Detroit, which had found the post-Sept. 11 warrantless surveillance aimed at uncovering terrorist activity to be unconstitutional, violating rights to privacy and free speech and the separation of powers.

U.S. Circuit Judge Julia Smith Gibbons, one of the two Republican appointees who ruled against the plaintiffs, said they failed to show they were subject to the surveillance and therefore do not have standing for their claims.

U.S. Circuit Judge Ronald Lee Gilman, a Democratic appointee, disagreed, saying he felt the plaintiffs were within their rights to sue and that it was clear to him that the surveillance program violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978.

Although the Bush administration said in January the program is now overseen by a special federal intelligence court, opponents said that without a court order, the president could resume the spying outside judicial authority at any time.

The American Civil Liberties Union led the lawsuit on behalf of other groups including lawyers, journalists and scholars it says have been handicapped in doing their jobs by the government monitoring.

Other groups have filed challenges to the program in other courts; this case proceeded the furthest. If the ACLU does not appeal, the case will be sent back to the U.S. district judge in Michigan for dismissal.

Slideshow: Domestic Surveillance (<<< Libtard talking point.)

Yahoo News ~ Associated Press - Lisa Cornwell ** Court rejects Ohio domestic spying suit

Last I checked the White House was 25-1 on fighting challenges to the NSA program. Now it appears to be 26-0.

The Bush Derangement Syndrome libtard suicide rate just spiked!

Posted by yaahoo_ at 3:01 PM EDT

Updated: Friday, 6 July 2007 3:07 PM EDT

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Court bars atheists' suit against faith-based plan

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration's faith-based initiatives got a boost Monday from the Supreme Court: a ruling that ordinary taxpayers cannot sue to stop conferences that help religious charities apply for federal grants.

President Bush called the 5-4 decision "a substantial victory for efforts by Americans to more effectively aid our neighbors in need of help."

The court blocked a lawsuit by a group of atheists and agnostics against eight Bush administration officials including the head of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

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The taxpayers set out "a parade of horribles" they contended could happen, Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the majority. None did and "in the unlikely event that any of these executive actions did take place, Congress could quickly step in," he wrote.

The ruling's effects are limited, opponents said.

"Most church-state lawsuits, including those that challenge congressional appropriations for faith-based programs, will not be affected," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Lynn called Alito's statement that Congress could step in "quite incredible because the damage is done when the president acts." Lynn said Congress cannot anticipate action by the president that might violate the constitutional separation of church and state. "We have the courts to do precisely this, rein in the president or the Congress," he said.

The taxpayers' group, the Freedom From Religion Foundation Inc., objected to government conferences in which administration officials encourage religious charities to apply for federal money.

The justices' decision revolved around a 1968 Supreme Court ruling that enabled taxpayers to challenge government programs that promote religion.

That earlier decision involved the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which financed teaching and instructional materials in religious schools in low-income areas.

"This case falls outside" the narrow exception allowing such lawsuits to proceed, Alito wrote. Congress must provide a specific appropriation, he said, and in the suit over the administration conferences the White House pulled the money out of general appropriations.

In dissent, Justice David Souter said the court should have allowed the challenge to proceed.

The majority "closes the door on these taxpayers because the executive branch, and not the legislative branch, caused their injury," wrote Souter. "I see no basis for this distinction."

Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas would have gone further that the rest of the court, favoring a repudiation of the 1968 decision that in certain instances allows taxpayer lawsuits.

"We had an opportunity today to erase this blot on our jurisprudence, but instead have simply smudged it," Scalia wrote.

With the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, Bush says he wants to level the playing field so religious charities and secular charities compete for government money on an equal footing.

Jim Towey, formerly head of the White House office, said the ruling is "good news for addicts and the homeless and others seeking effective social services."

"It's also a repudiation of the kind of secular extremism that ruled the public square for decades," said Towey, now president of Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa.

"It's a bad day for the First Amendment. The Supreme Court just put a big dent in the wall of separation between church and state," said Ralph G. Neas, president of People For the American Way Foundation, a liberal-oriented group.

The White House program appears to have had a substantial impact.

In fiscal 2005, seven federal agencies awarded $2.1 billion to religious charities, according to a White House report. That was up 7 percent from the year before and represented 10.9 percent of the grants from the seven federal agencies providing money to faith-based groups.

Among the programs: Substance abuse treatment, housing for AIDS patients, community re-entry for inmates, housing for homeless veterans and emergency food assistance.

Yahoo News ~ Associated Press - Pete Yost ** Court bars suit against faith-based plan
Related: Supreme Court Kills Part of McCain-Feingold...
Yahoo News ~ Associated Press - Mark Sherman ** Court allows issue ads near elections

Posted by yaahoo_ at 4:14 AM EDT

Updated: Tuesday, 26 June 2007 4:22 AM EDT

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Mood:  party time!

Fred Thompson Announcement Set For Next Week In Nashville...

Thompson Announcement Set For Nashville

Headquarters To Be Based At Fall School building

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Fred Thompson is set to announce that Nashville will be the home of his national campaign headquarters, WSMV is reporting.

A source close to the campaign planning tells WSMV that that Thompson planned to announce his candidacy on the steps of the historic Fall School Building Tuesday, but Thompson campaign officials deny that Tuesday's announcement is an official run for the White House.

The source tells WSMV report says that the Thompson campaign has obtained the lease for that building to turn it into a national campaign office.

"Everything's in place for tuesday," the source told WSMV. "There are three major events built around his announcement." But Bob Davis, the Tennessee Republican Party Chairman, and Thompson's former Chief of Staff says "There will not be an annoucement Tuesday."

The Fall School is Nashville's oldest still-standing school building. It currently houses office space, including a local office for U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander.

Video: WSMV: Thompson Announcement Set For Nashville
WSMV-TV, NBC 4 News - TN ~ Dennis Ferrier ** Thompson Announcement Set For Nashville

Posted by yaahoo_ at 5:19 AM EDT

Updated: Saturday, 23 June 2007 5:24 AM EDT

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Mood:  celebratory

US, Iraqi forces kill 41 insurgents in assault on al-Qaida

U.S. and Iraq forces killed at least 41 insurgents in two days of an all-out offensive against al-Qaida network in the volatile Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Thursday.

During the first two days of the assault dubbed "Operation Arrowhead Ripper," at least 41 insurgents have been killed, numerous weapons caches and five booby-trapped houses have been discovered, the military said in a statement.

The troops destroyed three "enemy safe houses" and a number of roadside bombs, the statement said.

"Ground forces also found a house booby trapped with improvised explosive devices in the Khatoon neighborhood near Baquba. The building was destroyed with a rocket from an air support helicopter," it added.

In an another development, the military called in air support to kill another four suspects seen planting roadside bombs, the statement said.

Early on Tuesday, the U.S. military said that 10,000 troops, including 2,000 Iraqi soldiers and policemen, have launched a massive assault aimed at hunting for the al-Qaida militants operating in and around Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad.

"Our combined forces have begun destroying al-Qaida operatives and their resources in and around Diyala province," said Brigadier-General Mick Bednarek of 25th Infantry Division, who is also deputy commanding general for this operation.

Baquba, the capital of the volatile Diyala province, is the stronghold of the extremist Sunni militants of al-Qaida.

Source: Xinhua
People's Daily Online ** US, Iraqi forces kill 41 insurgents in assault on al-Qaida

Posted by yaahoo_ at 3:34 AM EDT

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Iraqi politicians agree deal on sharing oil, says Kurd minister

Iraq's Kurdish leaders said last night they had struck an important deal with the central government in Baghdad over a law to divide up Iraq's oil revenues, which is seen by the Bush administration as one of the benchmarks in attempts to foster national reconciliation.

Ashti Hawrami, the minister for natural resources in the Kurdistan regional government, told the Guardian the text had been finalised late last night after 48 hours of "tough bargaining" with Baghdad. The deal represented "a genuine revenue sharing agreement" that was transparent and would benefit all the people of Iraq and help pull the country together, he said.

Iraq's oil revenue accounted for 93% of the federal budget last year. Iraq sells about 1.6m barrels a day.

Mr Hawrami said the law provided for the setting up of two "regulated and monitored" accounts into which external and internal revenues would be deposited. The external account would include items such as oil export earnings and foreign donor money, while the internal fund would consist largely of customs and taxes. The federal government in Baghdad would take what it needed, and the rest would be automatically distributed to the Kurdistan regional government, which would get 17%, and to Iraq's governorates "according to their entitlement". Revenues would be distributed monthly, he said.

Mr Hawrami said the system would better enable Iraqis to track how and where the oil funds were being spent. The Kurds, for example, have complained that remittances to their self-rule region have been being held back by up to six months in Baghdad. Iraq's Sunni Arabs had also expressed concerns that they might miss out on their share.

Iraq's finance minister, Bayan Jabr, and the oil minister, Hussein Sharistani, were accompanying the president, Jalal Talabani, on a state a visit to China and could not be contacted for comment.

The new deal came days after a visit to Iraq by the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, during which he rebuked politicians for failing to reach consensus on sharing oil revenues. The US sees the deal as a benchmark of progress toward reconciliation.

A western diplomat in Baghdad said last night: "Fair-sharing of Iraq's oil revenue is important to finding a sustainable political solution in Iraq. But on its own it will not halt the sectarianism."

UK Guardian ~ Michael Howard in Sulaymaniya ** Iraqi politicians agree deal on sharing oil, says Kurd minister

Posted by yaahoo_ at 3:51 AM EDT

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House Republicans introduce their own immigration bill

(would bar amnesty for illegal immigrants)

The measure, a rebuke to Bush, would bar amnesty for illegal immigrants and require legal-status checks for all workers.

WASHINGTON -- In a sharp rebuke to President Bush, House Republicans unveiled legislation Tuesday that would bar illegal immigrants from gaining legal status in the U.S., require tamper-proof birth certificates for Americans and make English the nation's official language.

The measure's core principles include gaining control of the border and enforcing existing immigration laws -- it does not provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants as the Bush plan does.

The House bill stands virtually no chance of becoming law, or even advancing, in the Democratic-controlled Congress. Still, it casts in bold relief the split between Bush and many fellow Republicans in the immigration debate.

The bill surfaced one day after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., working with the White House, resurrected efforts to pass the broader legislation Bush wants.

The authors of the House bill also are pushing for a congressional resolution detailing ways in which they believe the federal government has failed to enforce immigration law and made it easier for illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S.

"The current illegal immigration crisis is a direct result of this and previous Administrations failing to enforce or adequately enforce at least eight immigration laws," the resolution said.

The bill's authors, Reps. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, and Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said it was meant to challenge the immigration bill the Senate plans to return to later this week.

That measure, King said, goes "against the wishes of the American people."

In another sign of GOP restiveness over the immigration issue, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., introduced a resolution Tuesday calling on Bush to enforce existing immigration laws in order to halt "the lawlessness at our borders."

Sessions has been a vocal critic of the Bush approach to revamping immigration laws. The president, however, travels to Alabama later this week to headline a fundraiser for the senator.

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel rejected the criticism that the administration has been lax in border enforcement. As one example, he cited a sharp rise in funding under Bush for stricter border control.

In 2001, enforcement funding totaled $4.6 billion; that has increased significantly and in his latest budget request, Bush is seeking $11.8 billion.

Stanzel also noted that the Senate bill includes goals for border security that would have to be achieved before other aspects of the overhaul could proceed.

Reid wants the Senate to decide the fate of the immigration bill before Congress breaks for its July 4 recess. But even if the measure passes the chamber, it faces an uncertain fate in the House.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has told administration officials that she will not take up the bill unless about 70 Republicans are brought on board to help pass it.

The bill unveiled Tuesday is the equivalent of a warning flag that conservatives intend to fight for those Republican votes.

"It seems a formal way of putting proponents on notice that there will be resistance from those quarters in the House," said Roberto Suro, director of the non-partisan Pew Hispanic Center.

He added that the number of co-sponsors the bill attracted could act as "an indication of how many votes there are to oppose something that resembles the Senate bill or ... includes the legalization program."

The measure would require that 18,000 border patrol agents be deployed by Dec. 31, 2008. Currently, the force totals about 12,000.

It would also require the full implementation of US-VISIT, a program that is meant to track entries and exits at all ports-of-entry but has fallen short of that goal.

U.S. citizens would be affected by many of the changes proposed for work site enforcement, including mandatory checks of all employees' eligibility and a nationwide electronic system for tracking birth and death records.

LA Times ~ Nicole Gaouette **
House Republicans introduce their own immigration bill
Related: This Blog *** House rejects security fence at the border
This Blog *** Rare Tactic May Allow Immigration Votes

Looks alot better than the bill the Senate is trying to cram down our throats.

Just waiting for the libtards and their buddies in the press to call this bill racist... 5...4...3...2...1

Posted by yaahoo_ at 1:27 AM EDT

Updated: Wednesday, 20 June 2007 1:34 AM EDT

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