Republicans block moves on gays, immigration

Congressional Democrats’ last-ditch, pre-election effort to pass gay rights and immigration legislation fell victim to a Republican-led filibuster Tuesday, dealing a setback to those trying to lift the ban on openly gay troops serving in the U.S. military.

The filibuster also ended Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s hopes of attaching an amendment legalizing illegal immigrant children to the defense bill.

Immigrant- and gay-rights groups blasted the GOP move, and Democrats said they might try again later this year. In the meantime, they tried to get the maximum mileage politically out of Tuesday’s filibuster, with one Democratic leader accusing Republicans of “cowering” behind procedural rules.

But Sen. John McCain, ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said trying to force immigration-reform and gay-rights debates on the defense bill was more about the upcoming midterm elections than it was about making laws.

“It was a blatant and cynical attempt to galvanize the Hispanic vote in the case of the [immigration bill] and also energize the gay and lesbian vote,” Mr. McCain said.

The filibuster likely ends the Senate’s major legislative business for the year, leaving lawmakers to pass stopgap spending measures, approve some nominations and finish other odds and ends before facing voters in November.

Two Democrats joined 40 Republicans in support of the filibuster, which blocked the Senate from even beginning debate on the defense bill. The authorization bill includes popular programs such as pay raises for the troops, as well as tackling thornier issues like abortions at military hospitals and the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

That policy, developed under President Clinton in 1993, dominated much of the debate, and gay-rights groups declared Tuesday’s vote a major test of support. Pop music star Lady Gaga headlined a rally in Maine to try to sway the state’s two Republican senators to break with their party.

One of those lawmakers, Sen. Susan Collins, voted in committee to end the policy and said she still thinks it’s time to change the rules. But Ms. Collins added that Senate Democrats weren’t guaranteeing a fair floor debate on that and other parts of the bill.

“For the life of me, I do not understand why [Mr. Reid] doesn’t bring this bill to the floor and allow free and open debate and amendments from both sides of the aisle,” she said.

Many Republicans wanted to debate amendments on how the U.S. would handle trials for suspected terrorists, and also wanted a chance to try to strike language that would allow military hospitals to provide abortions to women willing to pay for them.

But Democrats accused Republicans of hiding behind procedural objections, rather than fighting over the amendments themselves.

“Stop cowering in the shadows,” said Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat and a major backer of the immigration proposal, known as the Dream Act, which would legalize many illegal immigrant children.

The final vote was 56-43 to end the filibuster, with GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski not voting and Mr. Reid switching his vote at the last moment in a parliamentary move to preserve his right to bring up the legislation again. Sixty votes are needed to defeat the filibuster.

Jim Manley, a spokesman for Mr. Reid, said the senator would be willing to allow more debate on the bill after the November elections in a possible lame-duck session.

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