The 109th Congress limped out of town at a particularly ugly moment. But it had some achievements worth noting. Well, one achievement, anyway.

It might be the case that this November the scandal surrounding former Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., will be foremost in the voters’ minds. If that’s the situation, Republicans will have a bad Election Day, less than five weeks from now.

If so, then the biggest accomplishment of this Congress, the authorization for construction of a wall across part of the U.S.-Mexican border, is likely to be downplayed by the media. Fortunately, the wall-building issue is firmly planted in voters’ minds, not only for this election, but for the future. And while the partisans on both sides of the debate are fired up by the wall-troversy, it’s obvious that immigration hawks far outnumber immigration doves.

So if and when hard-line congressional Republicans can get their message out – working their way around President Bush, whose heart is with the soft-liners – Hill GOPers will prosper.

The forthcoming wall, to be sure, is not the complete answer. For one thing, it will cover only a third of the U.S.- Mexico border.

But let’s make no mistake. The recent congressional vote is a big deal, for two reasons: First, the voting finally decouples the homeland security imperative of wall-building from the political debate over “comprehensive” immigration law changes. Until recently, the immigration issue has been dominated by an unholy alliance of cheap-labor Republicans and multicultural Democrats, united around the idea of an open border.

Their favored code word, of course, has been “comprehensive.” If border security must be tightened – and after 9/11, even the elites agreed something had to be done – such tightening must be coupled with a “guest worker” program and, eventually, amnesty for tens of millions of people.

For three years now, that’s been the fight, as the “stand-alone” wall-builders – those focusing on the single issue – battled the “comprehensive” policy bundlers. But finally, in September, the “stand-aloners” prevailed, defeating the “comprehensives.” The partial wall, at least, will be built.

Second, the pro-wall vote was decisive. The vote in the House was 283-138 and, in the Senate, 80-19. The pro-wallers featured some big senatorial names, including the two presidential front-runners, Republican John McCain, R-Ariz., and Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., both of whom had been “comprehensives” in the past.

While political momentum behind immigration control is strong, the battle is far from over, because of elite-media countermomentum. Consider, for example, a review of Pat Buchanan’s new book, “State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America,” which appeared in The Washington Post last week. Buchanan, of course, is a well-known immigration hawk, so it was a revealing indicator that his book became a best-seller.

During the course of a mostly negative review, The Post’s Steven Holmes conceded that Buchanan spoke for a large number of anti-immigration “populist nationalists.” These nationalists are pitted, Holmes continued, against pro-immigration “progressive globalists.” The Postie concluded, “We would dismiss him and the anger embodied in ‘State of Emergency’ at our peril.”

One might ask: Who is the “we” in that sentence?

The answer, to be sure, is Holmes and his like-minded “progressive globalists” – a group that’s numerous in Washington, if not in the country as a whole. Such globalists are horrified by the prospect of Buchanan and his nationalists winning, on immigration or anything else.

So the wall battle will continue. Yet, congressional Republicans, who have spearheaded the wall-building effort – despite strenuous opposition, until recently, from most Democrats – deserve credit for their homeland-securitizing determination.

But thanks to the October surprise of Mark Foley, the Florida Republican, GOPers on the Hill might not get the credit they deserve in 2006.

Nevertheless, in the coming years, and over the course of the next century, the wall-builders will be remembered for having voted to save America.