The Rs could only muster 257 votes, far short of the 2/3 needed for the bill to pass through a special expedited process called a suspension vote.
I did watch the debate on the bill. The main issue debated was not over the merits of making it easier to bring in STEM professionals, but whether the green card lottery should be scrapped in exchange for more STEM green card numbers. I do think the lottery has had a number of success stories over the years and deserves to stay in place. On the other hand, I think that if there's a choice between 55,000 green cards going to lottery winners versus those 55,000 going to STEM professionals, I think the country would benefit much more from having the additional STEM professionals. Hopefully, a deal can be worked out. Perhaps look at adding more family numbers to the mix as well (without cutting the STEM numbers) and I'll bet you'll get a lot of Democratic votes.
As I said if African American women had followed the example of Barrack Obama's white mother and married men from Africa and brought them and their families to this country, we would not be needing diversity visas, and racist whites in places such as Alabama would be a minority by now, and we wont be having racist immigration laws in that state and people such as these wont have any say....
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/09/alabama_bill_armistead_birther.php?ref=fpnewsfeed
Posted by: George Chell | September 21, 2012 at 03:09 PM
Still playing political football with anything immigration both parties, this bill was good for the US.
Posted by: Another Voice | September 21, 2012 at 06:42 AM
A report says that 50% of diversity visas are allocated to Africans. Now, if African American women who are facing shortage of men (as they claim) married African and Caribbean men in large numbers and brought them and their families to this country...and if they had done it beginning early 1980s, racist whites would be a minority in at least two states where we have serious immigration related problems, Georgia and Alabama, and that racist bigot Nathan Deal would not be the Governor of Georgia today! And we would not need diverstiy lottery for black Africans either.
Posted by: George Chell | September 21, 2012 at 05:50 AM
This was pure grandstanding. If they wanted to pass a bill, they would have compromised with Zoe. This is just Lamar scoring points by taking cheap shots. The result was known to everyone that watches this stuff long before the vote. There will be no STEM bill for now. Lamar Smith will not increase numbers and will not give in to Family. Zoe will not help without one or both of those. So there we are.
Posted by: Amused | September 20, 2012 at 10:25 PM
Goodbye to STEM or any other reforms until next year. And one more thing. Until Grassley and Durbin remain in the Senate there is no chance that any meaningful reform will pass. At present, the US continues to be the leader in national innovation is because countries such as the UK and Denmark (and more recently Singapore appears to be headed in that direction) are hell bent on committing national suicide through their restrictive immigration policies. Otherwise we will be in very serious trouble.
Posted by: George Chell | September 20, 2012 at 03:25 PM