2007年VOA标准英语-US Immigration Reform Bill Survives Test Vote i

The U.S. Senate has voted to revive broad legislation to overhaul¹ the nation's immigration system, after the measure was blocked by opponents earlier this month.  But the fate of the measure remains² uncertain, as VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

The Senate Tuesday voted 64 to 35 to revive the bill.

Under Senate rules, at least 60 votes were necessary in the 100-seat chamber³ to move the bill forward.

The Senate action came shortly after President Bush urged lawmakers to support the legislation.

President Bush makes remarks on comprehensive immigration reform, 26 June 2007

The measure would tighten⁴ border security, create a temporary guest worker program and grant immediate⁵ legal status to millions of undocumented workers in the United States. 

The bill was crafted by a group of Republican and Democratic senators and the White House after months of negotiations⁷.

President Bush has made immigration reform a top domestic priority.  He and his aides have been intensely lobbying fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill to support the bill after Senate opponents blocked it from coming to a vote earlier this month.

The Senate's top Democrat⁶, Majority Leader Harry⁸ Reid of Nevada, says Republican support will be crucial to getting the bill passed in the chamber, where Democrats⁹ hold a slim majority.

Rep. Harry Reid (16 Feb 2007)

But many Republicans question whether the bill will go far enough in securing U.S. borders and they argue it will reward immigrants who came to the United States illegally with the possibility of U.S. citizenship¹⁰.

Senator Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican, is a leading opponent of the legislation. "The bill is flawed," he said.  "It will not work."

Sessions and other opponents say their efforts to scuttle¹¹ the legislation are gaining momentum¹².

Prospects¹³ for the bill's passage remain unclear, with another test vote scheduled Thursday.

In addition, several proposed amendments¹⁴, if passed, could alter key parts of the legislation, potentially threatening the fragile coalition¹⁵ supporting the bill.

Among those amendments are Republican-backed measures to toughen certain penalties against illegal immigrants and Democratic-sponsored measures that would emphasize family ties in the new merit-based system proposed for future immigrants.