Stalled Bills in Congress are Victories for Women's Rights Advocates

April 10, 2006

As protests and rallies for immigrants' rights erupted across the country, Senators were hotly debating immigration reform last week. By Thursday afternoon, it looked as though a "compromise" bill proposed by Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) and supported by Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) might garner the support of enough Senators to pass. However, by Friday, support for the compromise bill had waned, due in no small part to the calls made by NOW activists and others urging senators not to support the bill (read our alert to learn more about the compromise bill). The dangerous proposals in the compromise bill have been defeated for now, but the Senate will take up the issue again when they return from spring recess on April 27.

The House also failed to pass a major piece of legislation before the spring recess. Conservative House leaders could not muster enough support for their 2007 budget resolution. Thanks to all your calls and emails, moderate members of the House refused to support the draconian budget cuts to health care, education, housing, child care, and job training. These cuts will be up for debate when the House returns from its recess, so we'll keep you posted!