Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) on Tuesday voted against cloture on S.1639, the immigration reform bill. The cloture motion passed by a vote of 64 to 35, but Corker has stated that he will vote against the bill in its final form as well.
The 64 votes were four above the minimum needed to revive the controversial bill.
Sen. Corker said, “I voted against cloture on the immigration bill, as I have already done twice during this debate, and I plan to vote against the bill in its final form.
“I believe a better approach would be a more modest bill that focuses on border security, employer identification, and putting systems in place that will put us in a position to actually enforce a new immigration policy.
“We have lost credibility in Washington on this issue, and before the American people will be willing to get behind an immigration policy, we need to demonstrate to them that the federal government is going to do what it says it will do, especially when it comes to securing our border.”
Sen. Lamar Alexander also voted against cloture.
He said, “I voted against ending debate on the current immigration bill because I think it needs a lot more work. We need to have a full and open debate about all the issues that are still out there beginning with securing the border, getting rid of amnesty in the bill, helping legal immigrants learn English and our culture, and finding more ways to bring in the best and the brightest who can create jobs for us. We must keep working until we get this right, and we aren’t there yet.”