Senate panel approves Leahy religious freedom amendment

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee today voted on a resolution that, in the words of its author, seemed like “a no-brainer”.

Sessions was one of the four senators who voted against the amendment, arguing that the rights of American citizens must be superior to those of foreign nationals.

Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions says that Donald Trump’s plan to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States has forced an “appropriate” conversation on how the country should decide which immigrants to accept into the country.

Cruz was not present but voted by proxy, as is regular practice when lawmaker can not attend a committee vote.

This was an obvious response to a proposal advanced by Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump to temporarily halt Muslim immigration given recent acts of terror both here and overseas.

Leahy said the amendment sends “a clear and direct message that America welcomes people from all countries of all faiths”. Periods spent almost 30 minutes on a rambling assertion in that invoked the memory of Kate Steinle who was killed by an undocumented immigrant earlier this yr & whose homicide Trump has used to rail against undocumented immigrants.

Among the 16 backing Leahy’s amendment was the committee chairman, Sen.

Cruz spokesman Phil Novack called the anti-discrimination measure “nothing more than a political stunt”. “What I find disturbing is when our committee meetings get hijacked by things that people are watching on the nightly news versus looking at the underlying bill”. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, another Republican candidate for president, lso backed the measure.

Added to an unrelated bipartisan bill addressing nuclear terrorism and maritime navigation, Leahy’s amendment offers a “sense of the Senate” resolution that the US won’t bar entry because of religion.

Some of the strongest condemnation of Trump and support of the amendment came from California Democratic Sen.