Americans Want Facts Not Opinions In Border Bill Coverage

Update to the Border Security bill vote:

The U.S. Senate Border Security and Foreign Aid bill failed to advance out of the Senate on a 49-50 vote, falling short of the 60-votes needed to move on to the House of Representatives where Republican leaders were already on record as waiting to kill the bill.  The loss closes the book on four months of unsuccessful talks to beef up border security.

Senate Republicans who voted for the bill include Republican negotiator James Lankford (R-Okla.) as well as  the "Usual Suspects" with a track record of breaking with their party's majority --  Republican Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).

Now comes the blame game from both sides and it is up to each American to ferret out the truth from the political pandering and talking points.

Now more than ever, unbiased, accurate reporting is essential

The latest national news headlines read "House Speaker tells Senate the border bill is Dead On Arrival in the U.S. House of Representatives."  The story is everywhere. Reactions are rolling in. (and as we now know, the bill never made it out of the Senate)

Washington's 4th District Congressman Stands For Stronger Border Control

As the U.S. Senate prepares to vote on the Border Safety and Security Act of 2023,
Washington's 4th District Congressman Dan Newhouse has yet to comment but has made it pretty clear where he stands on America's crisis at the border.

One only has to look at our southern border right now to know that illegal immigration has reached a crisis point in this country. Since coming to Congress, reforming our broken system has been one of my top priorities—particularly by ensuring we have a workable guest worker program for our agriculture industry

That was Newhouse one year ago and the breakdown at the border has only gotten worse so we're likely to hear his voice added to the chorus of  Republicans who are dead set against the Senate's proposed bi-partisan Border Safety and Security Act as written.

Hey Media, Just The Facts, Keep Opinions To Yourself

Caroline Downey is an education reporter and she's covering the story for National Review.  In the article she posted Monday she shared what journalists of my generation* would call unsubstantiated editorialization. (*trained in the 70's when public approval of media was over 70%)

People want facts, not reporter opinions.  No wonder America's trust in the media has dropped to record lows.  The Gallup Poll people checked just four months ago.

Too many anchors and reporters present personal opinion based on bias and, at their own peril, news editors allow it.  In addressing the question of why Republican Senators are against the bill, Caroline Downey wrote:

Trump has also been pressuring his allies in the Senate to scrap the deal, possibly because if passed it could generate the impression that Biden is finally cracking down on the border crisis, diminishing the issue in the minds of voters.

"Possibly because"?  That's pure speculation on Downey's part.  She offers no proof of that as motivation for Trump or his supporters. That's HER conclusion. The readers of a legitimate news story should have the opportunity to reach their own conclusions based on a presentation of the facts.  As FOX News used to say, "We report and you decide."  Caroline Downey, like so many other reporters crowding the halls of Congress, is deciding for us.

With the failure of the bill, is it a coincidence that Downey's conclusion is exactly what President Biden and the Democrats maintain?  You decide.

Get our free mobile app

In Fact, both Repuplican Representatives and Senators Have A Long List Of Concerns

So what are the facts about the bill that have Republican leaders stacking up against it? In politics the "Art of Compromise" generally means everyone gets a little of what they want and all are left with plenty to complain about.  The complaints from both sides are many.  House Republican Elise Stefanik says the border deal is:

riddled with loopholes that grant far too much discretionary authority to Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who has proven he will exploit every measure possible, in defiance of the law, to keep the border open

There's more obviousl,y and a weak compromise is not considered as better than nothing when it comes to border security and the future of the country.

The proposed $118 billion dollar bill ties the border-security measures to $60 million in aid for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel.  President Biden has said he wouldn't sign a stand alone Israeli support bill.  Playing politics and working angles for leverage continues to bog down progress on passage of important border security and foreign aid funding.

The President says the bill would give him tools he needed to control the border. Republicans say he already has the tools and has refused to use themThe 18,000 member Border Patrol union says the bill would be an improvement over the current situation.

While not perfect, the Border Act of 2024 is a step in the right direction...the bill’s enforcement provisions  will give U.S. Border Patrol agents authorities codified, in law, that we have not had in the past....and is far better than the current status quo.

- Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council

Tennessee Senator Blackburn Says A Better Bill Already Passed In The House

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee says a better bill was already passed by the House last year known as H.R. 2.  Congressman Newhouse voted for that bill  which would resume the construction of a barrier along the Southern border and reestablish Trump-era immigration policies.   Newhouse wrote on his website

I proudly supported H.R. 2, the Securing the Border Act of 2023 that included critical asylum and detention reforms. I also advocated to keep Title 42 in place and am fighting to restart construction of the southern border wall, because a country without borders isn’t a country at all.

As usual, the lines were drawn and the feet dug in.  The "compromise" worked out by a Democrat, a Republican, and an Independent was seen as selling out by some on both sides.  Something had to give.

Which Political Faction Blinks First?

The procedural vote was set for Wednesday, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said would be  “the most important (vote) that the Senate has taken in a very long time.” (Ed: See the top of the article for the results of this vote.)

In the end, such an Important moment received the ordinary run of the mill partisan treatment, with a 49-50 no pass vote, nothing solved, the status quo preserved...for now.  But read the Bill yourself, don't listen to the national press and pundits and see for yourself why the death of this bill is nothing to mourn.