European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 31, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                May 2007 stars and stripes Mideast edition Page 13 opinion crowning achievement of immigration Bill by Marsha Mercer Media general news service Washington Section 776 of the immigration Bill is to say the senators Arent Debat ing bloggers Arent railing about it and charterers Arent fulminating Over the provision tucked in subtitle f other matters under title Iii mis Cellaneous of the Mammoth so heres the Story behind one Little paragraph in a sweeping Bill that could change the Way Ameri Ca welcomes immigrants in the 21st the statue of Liberty has symbolized Hope for Waves of new Comers yearning to breathe free and Start a new Section 776 literally would re open the statues which has been closed since the 11 terrorist Hows that for a metaphor for the new Normal As Congress weighs tightening Bor Der Security and seeking Immi Grants who have a better Educa Tion and Job it also will de cide whether to permit visitors to trudge once again to the top of the Premier Symbol of american the matter of the Crown lacks the economic import of picking the right number of guest work it int As emotionally Laden As How to Cope with 12 million immigrants Here but As metaphor or practical it illustrates Why getting to yes on immigration is so nothing in the comprehensive immigration Reform act of 2007 is Sim a bit of history the statue of Liberty was a gift in 1886 from the people of France to commemorate our Friendship during the revolutionary it was intended to celebrate the Centennial Celebration in but it took a while to raise the the French donated Money to build the Copper edifice and Ameri prodded by editorials in the the newspaper owned by Joseph contributed for the the colossus in new York har Bor was immediately a big the Torch has been closed since an act of sabotage during world War i blew up an ammunition dump on a nearby then came Liberty Island reopened 100 Days and visitors returned to the statue of Liberty on since Treyve taken the views from an outside Obser vation deck at the top of the Pedes directly under the feet of the the double Helix spiral staircase to the Crown is off some lawmakers think the clo sure sends the wrong message and its time for Section Public Access to the statue of reads no later than 60 Days after enactment of this the Secretary of Interior shall ensure that All persons who satisfy reasonable and appropriate Security measures shall have full a Cess to the Public areas of the statue of Liberty including the Crown and the stairs leading to the Chuck is among lawmakers who want to reopen the he says tourists Are disappointed at being stopped Short of the the Senate agreed to the measure As an amendment to last years immigration and its but the National Park service has kept the Crown closed for other the so to Hung it was a head the stairs were never meant for said Darren a Park service Freder i Dauguste Bartholdi created the statue originally As a and the stairs were meant for Boch thousands of tourists traipsed up and the cramped staircase allowed peo ple to discover Claustrophobic tendencies they didst know they had As walked up the 354 after Many medical emerged the Park service was consid ering closing the Crown even be fore and theres really no Quick Way to evacuate people in an emerged when they did get to the visitors found a 6foot space where they got a Brief glimpse put tiny windows while other tourists waited impatiently for their they were he people like the observation deck just now comes Section 776 to open the staircase and the is it a Good move and you thought amnesty was Marsha Mercer is Media generals Washington Bureau Josh of the air Force six f16 fighting Falcons with the air Force thunderbird Aerial demonstration team Fly in formation Over the statue of Liberty in remembering americans of Many nationalities Washington Post editorial last at a Swearingin ceremony at mount Vernon in Alexan for new three of the immigrants taking the oath wore the uniform of this and two had done service in the nations one was a Navy Petty officer from one a Marine sergeant from Vincent and one an army sergeant from their and the presence of oth ers like them at such ceremonies in recent is a reminder that Many of those we Honor on memorial the american War were not really americans in the full Legal sense of the they got Here by one Means or sometimes Docu sometimes and they have fought in every one of americas without their service in the most crucial and wrenching of these struggles the civil War its unlikely that the Union we know today would in the mid19th Century there was a huge wave of immigration to this much of it caused by famine and political repression As is usually the America had need of these people the Large majority of whom came from Ireland and Germany but a sizable proportion of the native population didst much care for the discrimination against Irish immigrants is of course Many saw them As a permanent of the it was said that they kept refused to learn English and didst yet when it came to Many proved to have assimilated some very american Val a Large proportion of the germans and other europeans were refugees from the reaction against failed democratic Revo and they were enthralled by the principles of this country founding Docu including that reference to All men being created which they found difficult to reconcile with the institution of human so when the Union was threatened and Abraham Lincoln called for they joined up by the and in the coming years they fell in Battle by the thou not Only germans and Irish but British Citi Zens just about any nationality you can think the Story want All while tens of thousands of irishmen fought bravely for the some of their newly arrived countrymen fomented ugly race riots in new York because of the some units of foreign born soldiers fought some having whole companies and regi ments speaking different languages caused confusion on the Battlefield at but the Union and without its immigrant it could not have done so its estimated that Over the course of the War perhaps a Quarter of lincolns army consisted of foreign born their presence was like Many before and since who have chosen this country Over their native these soldiers saw America As a place of great Promise one Worth defending to the death if Many still come Here with that same kind of look at the pictures of the dead from the Iraq read the names and consider How Many of them were people who were new to this and then give thought to How often that line of legality for new Comers can be a very thin these dead Are the silent witnesses on the Muc Debat de question of what makes one an Ameri can and the most eloquent ones by prickly City by Scott Stantis in put Down As to