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US Senate leader backs urgent vote on immigration bill

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says he wants a full Senate vote on an immigration bill this week and believes that urgent action is needed despite sharp divisions over whether proposed legislation would amount to amnesty.

"There are 3 million people every year coming across our borders illegally. We don't know who they are; we don't know what their intentions are. We absolutely must address it," Frist, a Republican, said on Sunday. "I hope by Friday that we will have a bill on the floor that is comprehensive."

A chief sponsor of a House of Representatives bill, meanwhile, also called on the Senate to avoid deadlock so lawmakers in both houses can start work on reaching a compromise "for our national security and our economic well-being."

"No bill will end up being the worst of all possible worlds," said Representative James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. "This will be tough, and it's the toughest thing that I've done in 37 years in elective public office. But it is an important priority."

The Senate Judiciary Committee last week approved a bill aimed at strengthening enforcement of US borders, regulating the flow into the country of so-called guest workers, and determining the legal future of the illegal population scattered across all 50 states.

The Senate version, which passed 12-6 in committee and was broadly endorsed by President George W. Bush, goes further than the House bill that imposes criminal penalties, proposes building a fence along the borders and is limited to enforcement.

Still, several lawmakers, including Frist, have criticized as unacceptable the Senate provisions that would let illegal aliens already in the US seek citizenship without returning to their home country, paying fines and learning English.

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