Harry Reid Just Voted Against Border Fence via Jim DeMint via Twitter

Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) tweets that Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) just voted AGAINST the border fence. DeMint proposed an ammendment to suspend a rule that governs how legislation is voted on, in order to get the fence moving. Democrats have voted down completing the border fencing over and over, and today was no different. See the list of Senators voting against Sen. DeMint's supplemental amendment here, or check the list below. How did your Senators vote?

Jim DeMint

From DeMint's website:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) today announced that he will seek a vote on his amendment to the supplemental appropriations bill to require the completion of 700 miles of double-layer physical fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border within one year. The amendment is cosponsored by U.S. Senators John McCain (R-Arizona), Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma), David Vitter (R-Louisiana) and Mike Johanns (R-Nebraska).

Democrats have already twice blocked Senator DeMint’s amendment to finish the border fence from receiving a vote. To ensure a vote on this critical issue, Senator DeMint will now move to suspend the rules of the Senate to allow passage of the border fence amendment, requiring 67 votes for passage.

“Democrats killed this amendment behind closed doors last year and they’ve blocked a simple vote for weeks, but today we’ll see who is serious about border security,” said Senator DeMint. “We have a national security emergency at our Southern border and we must act immediately. Violence and crime are rampant near the border, including drug cartels, human trafficking, gang activity, kidnapping and murder. Yesterday, we learned a terrorist group linked to Al Qaeda may have entered the U.S. through Mexico. And reports indicate that tens of thousands of people entered the U.S. illegally last year from nations around the globe, including from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Yemen.”

“The President’s move to send National Guard troops to the border is a temporary and insufficient solution to a long-term problem. And the virtual fence has been a virtual disaster. We need a real layered fence that has proven effective, and we need it now. A layered border fence will not solve the problems of illegal immigration and violence on the border overnight, but it is an essential step to controlling our borders and gaining Americans’ trust to finally reform our legal immigration system,” said Senator DeMint.

Senator DeMint's amendment was already approved last year by the Senate in a bipartisan 54-44 vote, with 21 Democrats joining 33 Republicans in support of the measure. However, Democrat leaders gutted the amendment behind closed doors after “the Obama administration had opposed rapid expansion of the fence.”

Senator DeMint's amendment follows through on the four-year-old promise made by Congress to secure the border under the Secure Fence Act of 2006. According to staff at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), just a fraction of double-layer fencing has been completed to date, with only 34.3 miles of double layer fencing in total (11.8 in California, 9.1 in Arizona, and 13.4 in Texas). Areas where layered fencing has been completed in Arizona and California have shown significant drops in the level of border crossings.

If Senator DeMint’s amendment is signed into law, DHS Secretary Napolitano will be required to submit a report to Congress within six months (or 180 days) after enactment of the law on the progress made and her plans for completing the fence within twelve months.

Alphabetical by Senator Name

Akaka (D-HI), Nay Alexander (R-TN), Yea Barrasso (R-WY), Yea Baucus (D-MT), Yea Bayh (D-IN), Yea Begich (D-AK), Nay Bennet (D-CO), Nay Bennett (R-UT), Yea Bingaman (D-NM), Nay Bond (R-MO), Yea Boxer (D-CA), Nay Brown (D-OH), Nay Brown (R-MA), Yea Brownback (R-KS), Yea Bunning (R-KY), Yea Burr (R-NC), Yea Burris (D-IL), Nay Byrd (D-WV), Nay Cantwell (D-WA), Nay Cardin (D-MD), Nay Carper (D-DE), Nay Casey (D-PA), Nay Chambliss (R-GA), Not Voting Coburn (R-OK), Yea Cochran (R-MS), Yea Collins (R-ME), Yea Conrad (D-ND), Nay Corker (R-TN), Yea Cornyn (R-TX), Yea Crapo (R-ID), Yea DeMint (R-SC), Yea Dodd (D-CT), Nay Dorgan (D-ND), Nay Durbin (D-IL), Nay

Ensign (R-NV), Yea Enzi (R-WY), Yea Feingold (D-WI), Nay Feinstein (D-CA), Nay Franken (D-MN), Nay Gillibrand (D-NY), Nay Graham (R-SC), Yea Grassley (R-IA), Yea Gregg (R-NH), Yea Hagan (D-NC), Nay Harkin (D-IA), Nay Hatch (R-UT), Yea Hutchison (R-TX), Yea Inhofe (R-OK), Yea Inouye (D-HI), Nay Isakson (R-GA), Yea Johanns (R-NE), Yea Johnson (D-SD), Nay Kaufman (D-DE), Nay Kerry (D-MA), Nay Klobuchar (D-MN), Nay Kohl (D-WI), Nay Kyl (R-AZ), Yea Landrieu (D-LA), Yea Lautenberg (D-NJ), Nay Leahy (D-VT), Nay LeMieux (R-FL), Yea Levin (D-MI), Nay Lieberman (ID-CT), Nay Lincoln (D-AR), Not Voting Lugar (R-IN), Yea McCain (R-AZ), Yea McCaskill (D-MO), Not Voting McConnell (R-KY), Yea

Menendez (D-NJ), Nay Merkley (D-OR), Nay Mikulski (D-MD), Nay Murkowski (R-AK), Yea Murray (D-WA), Nay Nelson (D-FL), Nay Nelson (D-NE), Yea Pryor (D-AR), Nay Reed (D-RI), Nay Reid (D-NV), Nay Risch (R-ID), Yea Roberts (R-KS), Yea Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea Sanders (I-VT), Nay Schumer (D-NY), Nay Sessions (R-AL), Yea Shaheen (D-NH), Nay Shelby (R-AL), Yea Snowe (R-ME), Yea Specter (D-PA), Nay Stabenow (D-MI), Nay Tester (D-MT), Yea Thune (R-SD), Yea Udall (D-CO), Nay Udall (D-NM), Nay Vitter (R-LA), Yea Voinovich (R-OH), Nay Warner (D-VA), Nay Webb (D-VA), Nay Whitehouse (D-RI), Nay Wicker (R-MS), Yea Wyden (D-OR), Nay

The Lonely Conservative, up there in upper New York State says both of her Senators voted against the fence.