Senate Votes to Proceed with Immigration Debate

The U.S. Senate voted today to proceed with debate on S.744, the comprehensive immigration bill.  The vote count was 82 – 15.  All 15 no votes were by Republican senators.  The vote will begin debate and a series of votes on various amendments to the current language of the bill.  Another filibuster-proof vote by 60 senators will eventually be required to end debate and allow for a vote on passage of the bill.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid indicated yesterday that he will seek to largely protect the current language of the bill in order to preserve the delicate compromise negotiated by the bipartisan group that authored the bill, which in turn reflects the delicate compromises made between business and labor organizations, among others.