Is There Anyway to Get A Message Through To Senator Craig?

I just received a letter from Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) explaining why the amnesty bill failed--and he clearly still doesn't get it:

Although S. 1639 was by no means a perfect bill, it was a vast improvement over previous reform measures. The American people demanded that certain provisions be included, and they were. These demands included triggers requiring successful installation of border security measures before other programs come into effect, English language requirements, employee verification systems, and provisions that would force illegal immigrants to leave the country and submit an application before achieving permanent legal residency. In addition, the bill would have required that currently undocumented individuals seeking temporary legal status maintain employment, pass a background check, pay fines and their back taxes, and forego any Social Security benefits tied to payments they made into the system while working illegally. Americans were, and still are, adamantly in support of these policies, as am I.

Despite the inclusion of these popular provisions, the vote in the Senate demonstrated that many Americans do not trust the federal government to enforce these ambitious programs. In the end, that is probably what brought the bill down.

1. Why should they trust the federal government to enforce a new set of "ambitious programs" when they aren't making any serious effort to enforce the existing immigration laws?

2. It wasn't lack of trust; it was a vehement objection to giving "temporary legal status" to anyone who broke the law to come here.

I am perplexed why Senator Craig is pretending that the popular opposition to amnesty was actually a popular mistrust of the government to enforce the provisions. The opposition to this bill wasn't fear that the government wouldn't properly administer the amnesty; it was fear that the government would do what the bill provided.

Senator Craig is listening too much to the ACLU and corporate interests on this. He needs a conservative challenger in the Republican primary next year.