Reps Turning on the Prez on Immigration

iFrom the Chicago Sun-Times (click here):

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert and GOP House leaders virtually killed chances wide-ranging immigration legislation — supported by President Bush — will be considered this election year. In a highly unusual move, Hastert (R-Ill.) said Tuesday there will be hearings this July and August in Washington and across the nation on the immigration bill passed by the Senate. Conservatives favor the tough enforcement-only House version, which subjects illegal immigrants and those who help them to felony charges. “I think the action by the House of Representatives to reopen a series of hearings on comprehensive immigration reform is a cynical effort to delay or kill a comprehensive immigration bill,” said Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.). Kennedy and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) were key players in drafting the Senate legislation, developed with a group of GOP and Democratic senators. The Senate bill has two provisions embraced by Bush and objected to by conservatives: a temporary worker program and a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants already in the United States.

KJ