Atop the Senate's agenda in April is the $81-billion supplemental budget request to cover the costs of U.S. activities in Iraq and Afghanistan. The House version of the supplemental includes the REAL ID Act, sponsored by House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R.-Wis.), which prohibits federal agencies from accepting driver's licenses from states that give licenses to illegal aliens, tightens asylum laws and closes a gap in a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego.
Some GOP senators oppose including REAL ID in the supplemental and may use its inclusion in the House version of the bill as an excuse to try to push an illegal-alien amnesty into law. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R.-Tenn.) spoke to Fox News about the REAL ID provisions: "We will look at each and every one of those through our committee process. And if it makes sense, we may go ahead and pass them in some way. If not, it may even be more likely we'll do a little bit broader immigration reform, instead of just those specific ones."
