URGENT: Call Congress NOW to Defend Civil Liberties and Immigrant Rights
URGENT: Call Congress NOW to Defend Civil Liberties and Immigrant Rights
TO: Defenders of Civil Liberties
FROM: Bill of Rights Defense Committee
RE: Calls on House 9/11 bill needed today!
Yesterday Afternoon (Oct. 6), the Senate passed the bi-partisan intelligence reform bill S. 2845 by a vote of 96-2. Thank you to everyone who made calls to help ensure that no anti-immigrant amendments, such as those proposed by Senator Kyl, were accepted during debate. We will send out alerts within a few weeks, when the conference committee convenes to reconcile the House and Senate bills.
This Afternoon (Oct. 7), the House will debate H. R. 10, the 9/11 Commission Recommendations bill.
Three positive amendments to be debated today are:
- Menendez Amendment (#27): This amendment would replace HR 10 with the Senate 9/11 bill, thereby eliminating all of HR 10's anti-immigrant provisions and other sections labeled "poison pills" by opponents.
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- Smith Amendment (#50): This amendment would strike section 3006, which requires expedited removal of aliens that have been present for less than 5 years without a hearing or future review.
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- Smith Amendment (#51): This amendment would strike section 3007, which diminishes asylum rights and refugee protections.
One negative amendment being debated is:
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- Hostettler Amendment (#47): This amendment to section 3032 of HR 10 not only would allow the government to turn people over to countries that are likely to torture them; it would also increase the indefinite detention of people who cannot be removed and are ineligible for relief from removal based on criminal convictions or other disqualifying factors, and would require such indefinite detention of anyone in this category who has been granted protection against removal under the U.N. Convention Against Torture.
The Menendez Amendment will be debated first. If all of the House Democrats hold together, and some moderate Republicans join them, there is a chance that HR 10, which is now being considered, will be replaced. This would also make the conference committee's job easier. If your representative is a Democrat or a moderate Republican, call and ask him or her to support the Menendez amendment.
Here is a basic message you can use, courtesy of Maurice Belanger, National Immigration Forum http://www.immigrationforum.org <http://www.immigrationforum.org/> :
As it is written now, the House 9/11 Commission Recommendations Bill is saddled with dozens of controversial provisions, including many anti-immigrant provisions. It is opposed by, among others, the leaders of the 9/11 Commission and families of victims of the September 11 attacks. The Menendez amendment would substitute the Senate bill, which is a bi-partisan bill more in keeping with the Commission's recommendations.
You can look up your House member's name and telephone number by zip code at: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
If the Menendez amendment should fail, representatives should vote against the bill.
You can read the House rule on H.R. 10, with a list of all the amendments at: http://www.house.gov/rules/108rulehr10.htm <http://www.house.gov/rules/108rulehr10.htm>
Please visit our web site, www.bordc.org <http://www.bordc.org/> , for updates throughout the day.
Nancy Talanian, Director
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Web: www.bordc.org <http://www.bordc.org/>
Email: info@bordc.org <mailto:info@bordc.org>