By Bill Raack, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Both U.S. Senators from Missouri cast votes Thursday against taking final action on President Bush's immigration bill.
Republican Kit Bond and Democrat Claire McCaskill voted with the majority to effectively kill the measure. Illinois Democrats Dick Durbin and Barrack Obama voted in favor of the bill.
McCaskill says she agrees with assessments that the issue probably won't come up again during President Bush's term.
"The President couldn't even get the Republican leader of the Senate to vote with him," McCaskill said Thursday. "I mean think about that. This was the President's number one priority. He couldn't get him to vote for it.
"Now I can't imagine that there would be any bigger signal to the White House that this legislation is dead."
McCaskill says the bill did not address the underlying problem - ineffective penalties for employers who hire illegal aliens.
Bond also railed against the bill, even though he switched and voted 'yes' on a procedural vote Tuesday that allowed the bill to proceed.