"The morning after": a post-S.1639 round-up

• Salvadorean and Mexican presidents lament the failure of S.1639 in Congress.
• Sen. Reid (yea) calls defeat a win for a "status quo that amounts to silent amnesty".
• Sen. Specter (yea) said: "We have to find some way to deal with [the 12 million undocumented immigrants] which is realistic."
• Sen. Kennedy (yea) said "[W]e are in the struggle for the long haul."
• Sen. Webb (yea): "Enforce the laws on the books."
• Sen. Sander (nay) says his concerns with the bill centered around the middle class.
• Sen. Harkin (nay) said: "America is a nation of immigrants, but we are a nation that believes in controlled immigration."

More guesses on when immigration reform could return to the Senate floor

We posted earlier that it seemed likely that immigration reform will be shelved for the remainder of the U.S. presidential election campaign season. The Congressional Quarterly adds a little more:

The future now appears bleak for any immigration overhaul legislation in the remaining 18 months of the current Congress.

Refusal to invoke cloture now means “the bill is dead for this year,” Arlen Specter, R-Pa., warned before the vote. And with elections looming next year, it will not return before 2009, he predicted.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., did not go that far. “This is a legislative issue,” he said. “It will come back. It’s only a question of when.”

Basically, it seems almost certain immigration reform is temporarily, Congressionally dead.

Earlier: BREAKING: Senate blocks immigration reform bill

(This is today's last post.)

What's the difference between "S.1348" and "S.1639"?

Commenter Ultima asked a good question in response to an earlier post:

There is another bill out there with a different title and a different number S.1639. Aside from the title, the bill looks almost identical to S.1348. What's going on here? Is this another form of Kennedy treachery? Can MATT explain this development and the relationship between these two bills?

As far as we can tell, S.1639, introduced by Senators Kennedy and Specter on June 18, is essentially the same bill as S.1348. Apparently, it will replace S.1348 and be the one discussed on the Senate floor from here on out. It will be read into the Senate calendar this Wednesday. At that point, we are sure to know more about S.1639 and its relationship to S.1348.

*UPDATE*: We found the PDF of the S.1639 bill.

Earlier: Get to know "S 1348" & Senate begins rehashing S 1348