Bush, Senators to Meet on Immigration

As Bush made his way back from Europe yesterday, he did his best to sound upbeat.

"The political process sometimes isn't pretty to look at it; there's two steps forward, one step back," he said in Bulgaria. "We made two steps forward on immigration, we took a step back, and now I'm going to work with those who are focused on getting an immigration bill done and start taking some steps forward again."

He concluded: "I'll see you at the bill-signing."

Working against him are approval ratings near historic lows and some Republicans' desire to distance themselves from him, especially on an issue in which they can outflank him on the right.

Senators who voted Thursday against cutting off debate on the bill said they heard nothing but praise for sustaining the filibuster. After appearing with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) at the bill's introduction last month, Georgia's senators, Republicans Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, released a statement after its collapse, saying: "Immigration bill not good enough for Georgia."

"Republicans can never successfully distance themselves from the leader of their party," said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a backer of the bill. "To try to be too cute by half and disagree with him on a particular issue without a viable alternative is a political risk to us all."

White House officials said they will work with GOP senators on developing a discrete set of amendments, with the hope that Kennedy and others would prevail on Reid to allow debate to begin again.

"We believe it is just a matter of time before we get it back on the floor," Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez said in an interview. The president "will continue to exert very strong leadership," he said. "We are as determined as ever."

Flying back from Europe yesterday, Bush placed calls to three of the deal's architects -- Kennedy, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) -- to discuss the legislation, according to White House communications chief Kevin F. Sullivan.

Sullivan said the president will also discuss the issue with business allies on Thursday.

"It just feels like we're closer than you might think," he said.

Privately, White House officials are continuing to pressure Reid, saying that it is the majority leader, not the president, who controls what happens on the Senate floor and ridiculing his decision to move to debate over confidence in Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales.

"I, frankly, find it interesting that a so-called important subject they need to get to would be to pass a political resolution on my attorney general that's going to have no bearing on whether he serves in office or not," Bush said.

But Sessions counseled the president to give the issue a rest.

"Let this thing cool down and come up with a real enforceable system that will reduce illegality," he said. "I don't see any groundswell for this to come back up."