Immigration Bill Making Its Way Back To Senate Floor

06/17/2007 -- The immigration reform bill Congress received last week may be back being debated on the senate floor as early as Wednesday.

Once thought dead, the legislation now has a bi-partisan effort in the Senate. About 20 Republicans are being urged to change their mind and vote yes.

The new plan being worked out by Senate leaders will allow both sides to offer a limited number of amendments - with both sides promising to avoid motions whose only purpose would be to "torpedo" the bill. That's what happened last time the bill came up for a vote and was defeated.

Now, with the urging of President Bush who wants an immigration bill passed, the Senate will again grapple with this deeply divisive issue.

The solution will lie in the seemingly lost political art of compromise. Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican South Carolina, says "everyone's given and everyone's taken. What we've done here is Republicans and Democrats have sat down to solve a problem that no one party can solve."

If there is no compromise, the fear in Washington is that another failed vote may say less about immigration problems, than it will say about the U.S. Congress. Either way, a vote is coming.

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