Immigration Policy under the 108^th Congress
Posted Feb 28, 2003

The beginning of the 108^th Congress in January 2003 brought new Congressional leaders who may play a significant role in shaping immigration policy.

Overview

The Senate leadership for both parties appears to be moderate in its approach with mixed records for sponsoring and voting on immigration legislation. The House leadership's immigration positions are much more diverse. These Republican leaders generally have leaned collectively towards an immigration restrictionist viewpoint and often vote against expansive immigration legislation. The leading Democrats, on the other hand, have shown through their voting records that they are in favor of granting immigration benefits. However, Republicans tend to favor business-based immigration reflecting a pro-employer / pro-business stance. So it is a mixed bag for immigration policy irrespective of the party in power.

Senate Leaders

In the Senate, the Republican membership has elected Senators Bill Frist (R-TN) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as the Majority Leader and Majority Whip, respectively. The role of the Majority Leader includes the scheduling of bills and other leadership duties. The Democratic membership has chosen to continue with the leaders who were in the above-mentioned positions before the Senate reverted to a Republican majority. Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) serves as the Minority Leader and Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) serves as the Minority Whip.

The whips work to obtain the positions of their colleagues on pending legislation and act as liaisons between members in establishing coalitions and concessions in order to move legislation through the process. Essentially, the role is to figuratively 'whip' the members into agreement.

House Leaders

In the House of Representatives, Republican Congressman Dennis Hastert (R-IL) begins his third term as Speaker of the House, surrounded by fresh leadership on both the Republican and Democratic fronts. The Speaker of the House is the most powerful position in the House of Representatives. His duties include referring bills to committee, making appointments to certain positions and granting speaking rights during debates. The entire House of Representatives votes to elect the Speaker.

Tom Delay (R-TX) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) have been chosen to represent the Republican membership as Majority Leader and Majority Whip, respectively. The Democrats have elected Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as their new Minority Leader and Steny Hoyer (D-MD) as Minority Whip.

Various Leaders for Party Caucuses

In addition to these forefront roles, behind-the-scene leaders have also changed. Members of each major party meet in closed sessions known as party conferences (or party caucuses) to elect floor leaders, make committee assignments, and set legislative agendas. The Republicans have chosen Rick Santorum (R-PA) as their Conference Chairman. For the Democrats, Senator Daschle doubles as Conference Chairman. The Senate also created Democratic and Republican Policy Committees to coordinate and enhance legislative policymaking. The Republican Party has chosen John Kyl (R-AZ) as the head of its Policy Committee, while Byron Dorgan (D-ND) continues to chair the Democratic Policy Committee.

Deborah Pryce (R-OH) and Christopher Cox (R-CA) continue in their positions as Conference Chairman and Chairman of the Policy Committee. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) has been chosen as Chairman of the Democratic Caucus. Congressman Menendez has become the highest-ranking Hispanic in Congressional history, and the only Hispanic ever elected to a leadership position in either chamber, by either party. It is not clear, however, whether the election of a member of one of the largest minority population in the U.S. to this high-ranking position is an indicator that immigration benefits will be expanded under this Congress.

Conclusion

We encourage MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers to reach out to all members of Congress, regardless of their past records, to advocate legislation that promotes family unity, faster processing times for immigration services, and facilitates the hiring of needed foreign workers. To locate your senators and representatives, visit these websites.