11/20/2005: Answer to Confusion on Passage of S. 1932 by House on 11/18/2005
It appears that the immigrant community is terribly confused because the House passed not only H.R.4241 but also S.1932 right after passing H.R. 4241 after the midnight of 11/17/2005. It appears that the GOP intended to resolve the deficit reduction legislation as soon as possible and acted swiftly on S.1932 which was on the desk of the House Speaker.
Here is exactly what happend:
11/14/2005 6:02pm:
Received in the House.
11/14/2005:
Message on Senate action sent to the House.
11/14/2005 7:16pm:
Held at the desk.
11/18/2005 1:50am:
Mr. Nussle asked unanimous consent to strike all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the provisions of H.R. 4241 as passed by the House.
11/18/2005 1:50am:
Considered by unanimous consent.
11/18/2005 1:50am:
H.AMDT.633 Amendment reported by the House Committee on Rules.
11/18/2005 1:50am:
H.AMDT.633 On agreeing to the Rules amendment (A002) Agreed to without objection.
11/18/2005 1:50am:
On passage Passed without objection.
11/18/2005 1:50am:
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
11/18/2005:
Message on House action received in Senate and at desk: House amendment to Senate bill.
The House passed S.1932 striking all the provisions in the S.1932 and inserting in lieu thereof H.R. 4241 as passed by the House that night! This House action was then sent to the Senate and at the desk of Senate President pro temp at this time. Because of the differences between the two bills, S. 1932 is expected to the Conference Committee after the Congress returns to the session the second week in December 2005. This means that the businesses, academic community, and immigrant community should focus on the House-Senate conference committee to resolve differences between the S. 1932 as passed by the Senate and the S.1932 as amended by the House. H.R. 4241 which was passed that night is merged into S. 1932 and out of the picture hereon. The Senators and the House members have returned to your community for the next two weeks and it is a golden opportunity for the supports of the original S. 1932 to contact their Congressional delegations in their community during this holiday season. The House Speaker and the GOP majority whips in the Senate and House will play an important role in the conference process.
It is hoped that this posting clears the confusion in the immigrant community.
11/18/2005: How House/Senate Conference Committee Members are Determined?
For general information, please click here.
Read also Conference Committee Process.(see Attachment #4)
11/18/2005: Service Center November 18, 2005 Processing Times
Please see the home page.
11/18/2005: Passage of H.R. 4241 - What Does It Mean to Me?
Apparently there are some people in the immigrant community who misunderstand that the immigrant visa and H-1B recaptures or spouse/children special provisions may take effect soon. Passage of H.R. 4241 does not mean that the immigration bills have also passed the House. The H.R. 4241, unlike the Senate S.1932, did not include the immigration bills. Then why did the immigrant community monitor the passage of this bill? Both S. 1932 of the Senate and H.R. 4241 are two different versions of the same legislation named Omnibus Deficit Reduction Act ( also called Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) and unless the House bill, H.R. 4241, passes, the process of conference to compromise between the House bill and the Senate bill will not be commenced. Since the House bill did not include the immigration packet, while the Senate bill included immigration packet, the immigrant community wanted to see that the conference process would start as early as possible so that they will know whether the Congress will eventually accept the S. 1932 immigration packet and legislate it into a law.
In this regard, the passage of H.R. 4241 is not the end but the beginning of the process to get the Senate S.1932 immigration recapture bill be passed as part of the final version of the Ominibus Deficit Reduction Act. The Congress will go into the Thanksgiving holiday recess from next week and no voting sessions will start until next month. Due to another big holidays ahead, Christritmas and New Year, the Congress will have a very limited time to wrap up the legislative activities of the First Session of the 109th Congress. Report indicates that the conference process is likely to start next month when the Congress returns to the Hill. Since this is the beginning of the process to get the immigration bills accepted by the both Houses, the business, academic, and immigrant communities should expand their efforts for the next one week or so in order to assure that the current immigration clog be relieved as soon as possible.