Senate OKs fence along Mexican border

The Senate also endorsed citizenship chance for illegal immigrants.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate agreed to give millions of illegal immigrants a shot at U.S. citizenship and backed construction of 370 miles of triple-layered fencing along the Mexican border Wednesday, but prospects of the legislation clearing Congress were clouded by a withering attack against President Bush by a prominent House Republican.
"Regardless of what the president says, what he is proposing is amnesty," said Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and the lawmaker who would lead House negotiators in any attempt to draft a compromise immigration bill later this year.
He said Bush had "basically turned his back" on a tough border security bill after encouraging the House to pass it last year.
Sensenbrenner's blast underscored the deep Republican divisions on immigration, and coincided with a clash among GOP senators on the Senate floor.
"This is not amnesty, so let's get the terms right," Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska lectured fellow Republicans who condemned the bill. "Come on. Let's stop the nonsense."
"It sort of reminds me of the famous line, 'Methinks thou dost protest too much,"' responded Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who repeatedly described the legislation as an amnesty bill for lawbreakers.
Fresh momentum
Taken together, the day's developments gave fresh momentum to legislation that closely follows President Bush's call for a comprehensive immigration bill. Senate passage is likely next week, and the White House appeared to be turning its attention to rebellious House Republicans whose support will be needed if a bill is to emerge from Congress this year.
The political wheels turned as demonstrators massed within sight of the Capitol demanding greater rights for immigrants, the latest evidence of rising passions in connection with efforts to write the most significant overhaul of immigration law in two decades.
Committed to security
With the administration eager to emphasize its commitment to border security, officials continued to flesh out details of Bush's Tuesday night announcement that he would send up to 6,000 National Guard troops to states along the Mexican border.
Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, raised the possibility that Guard members could be sent over the objections of a state's governor.
"If a governor truly did not want this mission performed in their state, then the option is there for the president and the secretary of defense to federalize the Guard. And then the mission would be conducted, and then it would be without the control of the governor," he said.
Vitter led the drive to strip from the bill a provision giving an eventual chance at citizenship to illegal immigrants who have been in the country more than two years. His attempt failed, 66-33, at the hands of a bipartisan coalition, and the provision survived. In all, 41 Democrats joined with 24 Republicans and one independent to turn back the proposal. Opponents included the leaders of both parties, Sens. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Harry Reid, D-Nev. Thirty-one Republicans and two Democrats supported Vitter's amendment.
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