Nothing could be more illustrative of what was wrong with Congress prior to the midterm election than the spoiling approach of Republican leaders in the House of Representatives against immigration reform. Rebelling against the president, they refused to support a balanced Senate bill that would tackle the crisis in all its dimensions.

They frittered away the time that should have been devoted to reconciliation of the Senate and House versions of legislation. As a result, only half of the problem was addressed with approval of a multi-billion dollar 700-mile fence along the Mexican border. That left unresolved the burning question of what to do about the 10 million or more illegal immigrants already in the country.

Significantly, President Bush noted in his news conference Wednesday that passing a comprehensive immigration reform bill would be an excellent start to a new era of bipartisanship. "There's an issue where I believe we can find some common ground with the Democrats," he said. "When you're talking comprehensive immigration reform, one part of it is a guest worker program, where people can come on a temporary basis to do jobs Americans are not doing."

The election returns revealed that the House GOP leadership made a mistake in assuming that their unyielding emphasis on enforcement would reap rewards at the polls. Instead, their hard-line proposals to deport millions of working people with deep roots in this country who have U.S.-born children backfired.

A case in point is the border state of Arizona, where two well-known Republicans who took harsh stands opposing the state's senior U.S. Sen. John McCain and other Republicans who advocate a balanced approach to immigration reform were soundly defeated. Six-term Republican incumbent J.D. Hayworth and former Republican state representative Randy Graf lost to Democrats Harry Mitchell and Gabrielle Giffords, who both support Sen. McCain's initiative. Even more dramatic was the defeat of Indiana Rep. John Hostettler, chairman of the House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration and author of a provision in the original House bill that would have made felons of all 12 million illegal aliens. The proposal did not survive the Senate-House conference committee.

The polling across the country indicated that the vast majority of Americans want sensible, balanced and comprehensive immigration reform. That is what the president wants. It is what a majority in the Senate wanted. Fair legislation backed by effective border security should no longer be so difficult to achieve.