Sam Brownback News Blog @newzblogz.com

Washington -- A long and bitter Senate debate about

overhauling U.S. immigration laws ended Thursday when

Ohio's two senators joined a majority of their

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WASHINGTON -- The most dramatic overhaul of the nation's immigration laws in a generation was crushed Thursday in the Senate, with the forces of the political right and left overwhelming a bipartisan compromise on one of the most difficult issues facing the country.

The 46-53 tally fell dramatically short of the 60 votes needed to overcome opponents' dilatory tactics and parliamentary maneuvers that have dogged the bill for weeks. With no way to cut off debate, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., pulled the bill from the Senate floor for the second time this month, and this time, it is not likely to come up before a new president comes to power.

"Legal immigration is one of the top concerns of the American people and Congress's failure to act on it is a disappointment," said President Bush, who has pushed a comprehensive reworking of immigration laws since he came to Washington. "A lot of us worked hard to see if we couldn't find a common ground -- it didn't work."

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WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday resoundingly defeated a bill that would have overhauled the nation's immigration laws for the first time in two decades, crushing the chances of settling the contentious matter in the next few years.

After a rancorous final debate on the bill, lawmakers on both sides pledged to deal with illegal immigration and secure the southern border — but they disagreed not only on why the legislation failed, but on what to do next.

The 46-53 rout was 14 votes short of the 60 needed to end the debate and move the bill forward. It was a major defeat for President Bush, who had pushed hard to achieve his last major domestic initiative. It was also a bitter finale for the bipartisan team of senators and two Cabinet secretaries who worked for months to craft the intricate bill.

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President Bush's immigration plan to legalize as many as 12

million unlawful immigrants while fortifying the border collapsed

in the Senate on Thursday, crushing both parties' hopes of

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WASHINGTON -- Efforts to overhaul the nation's tattered immigration system appear dead for this session of Congress -- and possibly far longer -- after the Senate on Thursday rejected a White House-backed immigration bill that would have legalized millions of undocumented immigrants.

The collapse of the bill -- President Bush's top domestic priority -- indefinitely continues what advocates on both sides of the issue describe as an undesirable status quo that includes a vast underground population of more than 12 million illegal immigrants.

"The American people understand the status quo is unacceptable when it comes to our immigration laws," Bush said after the Senate refused to cut off debate on the measure. "A lot of us worked hard to see if we couldn't find common ground. ... It didn't work."

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