WASHINGTON, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Senate revived a stalled immigration bill on Tuesday that could provide a path towards granting legal status to the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the country.

    The Senate voted 64-35 to revive the bill, which was put on hold early this month when a vote to limit debate on the legislation failed.

    Republican opponents of the bill, however, succeeded later in delaying consideration of the package of amendments to the bill by using Senate rules to argue that the entire package, which ran 373pages, be read aloud.

    Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was forced to agree to postpone consideration of the 26 amendments.

    Meanwhile, the House Republican conference voted 114-23 on Tuesday in favor of a resolution to reject the bill.

    Key U.S. Democratic and Republican senators reached a deal with the White House on immigration reform in May, but the Senate failed in early June in a vote limiting debate on the bill, which would also punish employers for hiring illegal immigrants, establish a merit-based points system for future immigrants, and create a guest worker program to be discontinued within five years.