Sen. Rick Santorum had a golden opportunity to demonstrate his passion about stopping illegal immigration ASAP. But after voting for the Secure Fence Act of 2006 on Sept. 29 -- authorizing 700 miles of fence along the U.S. border with Mexico -- he's done nothing to make it happen. A spokesman for Mr. Santorum, R-Penn Hills, said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has not sent it to the White House to be signed into law.
"It's a timing issue," Mr. Frist's aide told The Washington Times. "We want it signed closer to the election when folks are paying attention and those who want to take advantage of the messaging opportunity can do so, and the White House is aware of this."
But on the Volunteer Political Action Committee Web site, Frist said on Sept. 28, "Tomorrow the Senate will pass this legislation and send it to the president's desk for his signature."
Anyone naive enough to have taken that at face value would've assumed it would be sent immediately. After all, this bill would be the law of the land immediately upon its signing.
Another oddity is the supposed reason for the lack of follow-through. The Frist aide said the White House is aware members of Congress want to take advantage of the messaging opportunity. However, in the same story, a White House official rejected a signing ceremony. He also said the White House doesn't want voters to expect too much out of the fence and "we cannot raise expectations that this bill of 700 miles of fence is going to happen immediately."
Cyberspace is overflowing with speculation why the bill has not become law. One theory is that the bill was to be left on hold through Election Day so the president and the majority leader could scuttle it by parliamentary skulduggery without risking voter backlash. And given that many of the Republican Party leaders inside the Beltway could not care less about defending this republic's defenseless Mexican border, the public's cynicism is understandable.
What is inexplicable is why Santorum has not filled the leadership vacuum about the fence bill that most Americans surely support. Santorum is running for re-election. He is being challenged by Pennsylvania Treasurer Bob Casey. Most public opinion polls indicate Mr. Casey is the front-runner.
The Santorum campaign has emphasized the senator's stand against illegal aliens.
But a campaign spokeswoman was not aware of the fence bill controversy when I called her on Thursday. After trying to determine if the newspaper story was accurate, she called back and said the bill had been sent to the White House. Later, another call from her said the bill had not been sent.
She didn't know if Santorum had done anything other than vote for its passage. A spokesman in Santorum's office said the senator is committed to securing America's border and stopping illegal immigration and offered examples of his commitment before admitting that Santorum had done nothing other than vote for it.
Santorum could have championed the cause, holding news conferences and sending news releases demanding the bill be sent and demanding a signing ceremony at the White House, even if Mr. Bush doesn't want voters to expect too much out of the fence.
Many polls and pundits predict Democrat candidates will win on Nov. 7. Maybe voters don't expect too much out of Bush and Santorum.
