Immigration Bill Awaits Senate Approval

Senate Democrats and Republicans gather at a Capitol Hill news conference on immigration, Thursday, April 6, 2006.(AP Photo/Dennis Cook, FILE) (Dennis Cook - AP)

On the other hand, Senate Democrats are likely to provide more votes for passage of the measure than Republicans. And one lawmaker from the House, Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., spent time in the Senate recently during debate on a provision for a new program of jobs for migrant farm workers, signaling his interest in having legislation emerge from Congress.

McCain and others said they saw signs of flexibility among House Republicans. They also claimed public support was on their side and said the party would benefit in the fall if the president and the GOP-controlled Congress could agree on legislation.

"The politics of solving this problem is better than the politics of doing nothing," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

McCain, of Arizona, a likely presidential contender in 2008 as well as a key architect of the Senate bill, re-enforced the view. "The American people accept a comprehensive solution," he said. "The president supports one."

"We've had conferences with Chairman Sensenbrenner in the past," said Specter, noting that earlier this year Congress passed a compromise anti-terrorist Patriot Act after particularly contentious negotiations.

In the House, prominent Republicans have sent mixed signals in recent days.

"Regardless of what the president says, what he is proposing is amnesty," Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said last week. He repeated the contention on Sunday, at the same time saying, "I don't think anything is a deal-breaker." Appearing on CBS, he said, "We can't have legal proceedings to deport 11 to 12 million people, that is evident."

A prominent House conservative, Mike Pence of Indiana, added a new dimension to the debate this week, proposing what he called a "real rational middle ground."

He outlined an approach that calls for securing the border, creating a guest worker program to "efficiently provide American employers with willing guest workers who come to America legally" and ordering tough sanctions on employers who hire illegal workers. In remarks at the Heritage Foundation, he added, "The only way to deal with these 12 million people is to insist that they leave the country and come back legally if they have a job awaiting them."