[caption id="attachment_70331" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Sen. Scott Brown. "]
The Irish E3 Visa campaign could do with a little bit of Irish luck in the countdown to St. Patrick's Day.
Passage of a bill, reflecting virtually identical measures in the U.S. Senate drawn up by Republican Scott Brown and Democrat Charles Schumer, were still lingering in legislative limbo at presstime Tuesday, this in large part due to a "hold" being placed on the E3 plan by Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa.
While Schumer has lined up support from all 53 Democrats in the Senate, 60 votes are needed for passage and Brown has yet to either persuade Grassley to lift his hold, or gather the minimum of seven GOP senators to his standard.
"It's all about Brown getting his conference organized," said one source familiar with the present situation.
Dan Dennehy, national immigration chairman of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, reflected this sentiment in a statement released Tuesday.
"We are asking Senator Brown to convince his colleagues to accept Irish E3 Visas and stop blocking progress. We ask the Irish American community in those hold out U.S. Senators' states to help us remind Senator Brown, and his colleagues, that it's time to check the Irish American voter almanac. It could be a very cold St. Patrick's Day without hard work on the part of Brown and his GOP Senate colleagues on the Irish E3s," Dennehy said.
Meanwhile, Taoseach Enda Kenny is expected to raise the E3 issue during his visit to the U.S. next week. Kenny is expected to meet with E3 backers, including the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform and AOH, as well as Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill involved in the E3 debate.
An E3 bill, as envisaged by supporters, would offer Irish applicants 10,500 two-year renewable work visas on an annual basis.
