Robert Menendez: Senator Menendez Votes "Yes" On Cloture, Though Immigration Bill Pulled Down By Conservative Bloc

June 28, 2007 -- WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today voted “Yes” to end debate and proceed to a final vote on the immigration bill, but the bill failed a cloture vote 46-53. Only 24% (12 out of 49) of Republicans voted to proceed on the bill, and two of the Republicans who helped first announce the Grand Bargain even voted against cloture (Sens. Isakson and Chambliss).

Sen. Menendez released the following statement:

“Republican conservatives made demands of the White House and the Grand Bargainers and were able to get a number of those demands in the bill – including $4.4 billion for border security and a more onerous touchback provision – but they obstructed the process nevertheless. It seems that the strategy employed by the Grand Bargainers and the White House that took this bill increasingly to the right and too far from the center ended up garnering few additional conservatives and even lost some Democratic votes.

“Personally, I had serious concerns about the process and the direction of the bill, but I voted to keep it alive because I wanted to work to make it better and because I believe in comprehensive immigration reform. The story of this bill was that Republicans demanded everything, got a lot of what they wanted but still weren’t satisfied.”

Source: Senator Robert Menendez

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