BREAKING: Immigration reform bill clears Senate test vote

U.S. senators voted 64 to 35 to invoke cloture; in other words, bill S.1639 has moved on to be considered for a real vote. (Two weeks ago, in its first go, as bill S.1348, only 45 senators voted for cloture.) The Senate will now move on to consider proposed amendments to the bill.

This week is set to be an exciting one on Capitol Hill.

BREAKING: Immigration reform bill could be voted on tomorrow

As the New York Times reports that debate regarding the revived immigration reform bill started ahead of time today on the Senate floor, the New York Daily News reports that the immigration reform bill could be voted on as soon as tomorrow.

(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

Senate begins rehashing S 1348

NPR reports that the U.S. Senate begins its second round of debate regarding S 1438 this week:

The week begins with votes on a series of amendments followed by a procedural vote that determines if the compromise language has the 60 votes needed to keep moving toward final passage. The outcome is too close to call (...) But Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., a leading critic of the legislation, argued that support for the bill continues to plummet, both among senators thought to be behind it and among the public.

Get to know "S 1348"

As the U.S. Senate readies itself to revive the comprehensive immigration reform bill, known on the Senate floor as bill "S 1348", it seems pertinent that we all understand the minutae of the bill.

• The CitizenJoe blog has prepared a comprehensive yet very readable breakdown of the bill.
• OpenCongress also provides a very handy progress tracker.
• You can find the full-length bill at the Library of Congress.
• And finally, you can subscribe to live RSS feeds on the bill's progress at GovTrack.