Kerry, Lieberman to pursue climate change measure

Washington (News Today) - Sens. John Kerry and Joe Lieberman are working to resurrect long-planned climate change legislation that got knocked off track last month after Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham stopped participating in talks about the legislation.

Two Senate sources familiar with the plans confirm that Kerry, D-Massachusetts, and Lieberman, I-Connecticut, will likely hold a press conference next week to announce their bill. But Kerry told CNN Thursday that the details of when to unveil it are still being worked out.

One of the sources said that Kerry continued to hold meetings with colleagues, business and environmental leaders and others even after original plans for a bipartisan bill with Graham crumbled.

"We have a bill and we want people to see it," said the source.

Looming large over this legislation is the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The broad measure is expected to include proposals to expand both on- and offshore oil drilling.

Sources familiar with the senators' plans say Kerry and Lieberman intend to keep those proposals in their bill, but they understand safety regulations and standards will and should be scrutinized and added to their legislation in the wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida has vowed to filibuster any legislation that includes an expansion of offshore drilling.

Kerry, Lieberman and Graham were set to announce their bill April 26, but abruptly canceled their news conference after Graham angrily withdrew because of a dispute with Democratic leaders over immigration reform.

The South Carolina Republican was furious that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had signaled he wanted to try to take up immigration reform in the Senate before climate change.

"Moving forward on immigration -- in this hurried, panicked manner -- is nothing more than a cynical political ploy," Graham wrote in a sharply worded letter April 24.

Now, Kerry is hoping that there has been some time for "immigration politics settle out," according to the source familiar with the plans, and that even if Graham doesn't attend next week's possible announcement, that perhaps ultimately Graham would be on board.

"Sen. Graham stands by this bill," Kerry said Thursday when asked if Graham is still supporting the legislation. However, Kerry added that he doesn't necessarily expect Graham to be at the unveiling because "we still have immigration issues."

A spokesman for Graham has not yet returned CNN calls for comment.

Some Democratic sources suggest that, despite the renewed push, it's unlikely that climate change legislation will make it to the Senate floor this year.

Source : CNN

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What does Arizona's immigration law do?

(News Terupdate) - Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Friday signed the state's immigration bill into law. It is considered to be among the toughest legislation in the nation.

What does the Arizona law do?

Arizona's law orders immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and requires police to question people if there's reason to suspect they're in the United States illegally.

It also targets those who hire illegal immigrant laborers or knowingly transport them.

Are other states considering similar legislation?

Michael Hethmon, general counsel for the Immigration Reform Law Institute, helped draft the language of the Arizona bill. Hethmon said lawmakers from four other states have approached him asking for advice on how they can do the same thing where they live. He declined to identify which states, citing attorney-client privilege.

State laws relating to immigration have increased in recent years, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In 2005, 300 bills were introduced. The next year, that number nearly doubled, and in 2007, more than 1,500 bills were introduced. Another 1,305 were introduced in 2008, and about 1,500 were considered in 2009.

About 15 percent of those were enacted, dealing with issues such as driver's licenses, health and education.

About 1,000 bills have been brought up so far this year.

What do opponents say?

Critics, including immigrant advocates and the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, say they are concerned the law will foster racial profiling, arguing that most police officers don't have enough training to look past race while investigating a person's legal status.

Read remarks made Friday by president, Arizona governor

Is federal immigration legislation coming?

Democrats tell CNN that if they don't get Republican commitments soon, they likely will push to move a bill without GOP support.

Democratic sources said the chances of passing immigration reform in that scenario this year are slim, but they want to make clear to key constituencies they are at least trying.

President Obama is still pushing for a bill, though.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is the only GOP senator on board, but he has told Democrats they will lose his support unless they find another Republican.

Obama recently called Sen. Scott Brown, R-Massachusetts, to try to get him on board, a Brown spokeswoman said.

On Thursday, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, said in a statement that during tough economic conditions, Americans are "dubious" about immigration reform.

He said the White House and Congress should not immediately take up the issue -- but instead "take targeted steps to deal with the crisis at the border, increase the usage of the E-Verify program, and enhance prosecutions of employers who knowingly hire illegal workers."

The last immigration reform efforts in Congress were in 2005 when Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, and the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, Brown's predecessor, introduced a bipartisan bill that aimed to implement guest-worker programs and ways for more illegal immigrants to become citizens.

The McCain-Kennedy bill, however, never came up for a vote in the Senate.

Other legislative efforts have failed to gain momentum.

Source : CNN

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