Senate Gives English A Nod

Lawmakers Vote For English As Both National And Unifying Language

(CBS/AP) 
Sixty-two percent favor the president's plan to station up to 6,000 National Guard troops at the U.S.-Mexico border, while 32 percent are opposed.

Six in 10 also support the idea of allowing foreign workers to work in the U.S. on a temporary basis and then return to their home country – a guest worker program, the CBS News poll also shows. Majorities of Democrats and Independents, as well as Republicans support both these proposals.

Mr. Bush's border visit was part of his efforts to win over conservatives balking at his support for a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and a new guest worker program.

The president's support for a path to citizenship has the support of 77% of Americans, the CBS News poll shows, at least for those who have been in the U.S. for at least five years and if they meet the following criteria: they pay a fine, pay any back taxes owed, can speak English, and have no criminal record.

Mr. Bush asked Congress for $1.9 billion Thursday to pay for 1,000 Border Patrol agents and the temporary deployment of up to 6,000 National Guard troops to states along the Mexican border.

His request was not warmly welcomed by some key senators.

Sen. Judd Gregg, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, delayed a vote on Mr. Bush's promotion of U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman to White House budget director to show his displeasure. He said Mr. Bush's request calls for using money for proposed for border security equipment to pay for operational exercises.

Sen. Robert Byrd, the Senate Appropriations Committee's top Democrat, complained that he had offered amendments providing for border security nine times since 2002, only to have the Bush administration reject them as extraneous spending or expanding the size of government.

"If we had spent that money beginning in 2002, we would not be calling on the National Guard today," Byrd said.

The White House's support for the plan approved Wednesday by the Senate showed how eager Mr. Bush is to win over Republican conservatives who want to take a tough approach toward keeping illegal immigrants out.

Many House Republicans said Mr. Bush's plan amounts to amnesty, and even a visit to the Capitol by the president's political guru Karl Rove didn't change their minds, reports CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante.

Told by Plante that Rove was "all but shown the door" by Congress, the president remained unfazed.

"Let's let the process work," Mr. Bush said. "My job is to find that common sense way forward and continue to articulate it."

Mr. Bush also told Plante that he understands the frustration. "It's an issue that brings out emotion. People want our border secure, but we got to make sure we treat people with respect and dignity," he says.

Meanwhile, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers supporting the immigration measure continued to hold through the week. The group was able to reverse an amendment that denied temporary workers the ability to petition on their own for legal permanent residency, a step to citizenship.

Bill supporters restored the self-petitioning with the condition the federal government certifies American workers were unavailable to fill the jobs held or sought by the temporary workers.