Floral industry members hoping for a resolution to the country's immigration debate will have to wait. Last week the Senate failed to agree on the amendments attached to a reform bill, stalling the effort.

"The Senate couldn't reach agreement on how many amendments to debate, and several hundred were filed, nor could they agree on the complex substance of the amendments themselves" says SAF Senior Director of Government Relations Jeanne Ramsay.

The bill in question, S. 1348, was one that SAF supported because it was "comprehensive" in nature, Ramsay says. "Although last week's effort failed, we are hopeful Republicans can come to an agreement on amendments and the debate can resume, so the bill can move forward to the House and to conference."

"The labor shortage continues," she says, "so labor-intensive industries, including the floral industry, will continue to suffer before Congress is likely to revisit immigration reform."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) left open the possibility of coming back to the immigration reform bill again, but it is still unclear if that will happen.

Early on the morning of June 8, several key senators involved in negotiations held a press conference stating their desire to move forward before the July 4 recess. Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Arlen Specter (R-Pa), Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), were among the speakers. Senator Graham was adamant that the Senate would vote on comprehensive immigration reform, signaling that their efforts at compromise are not over.

SAF's position is that the nation's immigration system is broken and in need of comprehensive reform. Ramsay and Lin Schmale, also a senior director of government relations at SAF, have lobbied for reform along with SAF members, the Bush administration and members of Congress from both sides of the aisle.

In a conference call with supporters of immigration reform, including SAF, Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez pledged the Bush administration's support for continued efforts toward comprehensive reform. He also stressed the need for one reform effort, versus industry-specific efforts, such as AgJOBS, an agriculture-reform bill SAF has long supported.

For its part, "SAF will continue to urge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to find agreement on amendments and to find time in the Senate schedule to bring the bill up again for consideration before the July 4th recess," Ramsay says.  "The status quo is unacceptable, and the chance to fix the broken system is still within reach."

Read May 16th's Week in Review article on the immigration reform bill.

--Vanessa Machir
vmachir@safnow.org

 

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