Bush not hearing Sensenbrenner

President Bush continues to put on a happy face and say he is confident there will be a Senate-House compromise on immigration. AP reports:

President Bush declared progress Tuesday in tightening the nation's southern border and pushing major immigration changes through Congress despite widespread skepticism that lawmakers can find a compromise.

The president brushed aside bitter divisions over the issue, saying the fact that there is active debate at all is cause for optimism.

"I know when you watch your television or listen to the radio, it seems like there's nothing but disagreement on immigration policy in Washington," Bush said, a blazing sun beating down on him and the barn behind him used to simulate armed encounters in Border Patrol training exercises.

"Yet there's a growing consensus among all parties and all regions of the country that fundamental reforms are needed," he said.

He might not be quite as optimistic if he'd tune in to Rep. F. Jim Sensenbrenner, who says, in a US News and World Report interview :

Are you optimistic that a compromise can be reached?

A: This is the toughest thing that I have ever been asked to do in 27 1/2 years in Congress and 10 years prior to that in the Wisconsin Legislature. I can say that the demonstrations that took place a couple of months ago made the American people more polarized than ever before. But doing nothing is probably the worst of all possible worlds because if we do nothing there will be another 20 million illegal immigrants that enter the country in the next 10 years and that will overcrowd our schools and probably cause a collapse of the healthcare system.

Is there any part of the guest-worker plan or path to citizenship that you support?

A: I do not support anything that is an amnesty...

How do you define amnesty?

A: Amnesty is granting citizenship to an illegal immigrant that is currently in the country. It is very important if there is to be a compromise reached that the Senate back off amnesty...