The ongoing sectional conflict had already excited much discussion when on January 21, 1850, President Taylor sent a special message to Congress that urged the admission of California immediately and New Mexico later and for the Supreme Court to settle the boundary dispute whereby the state of Texas claimed much of what is now the state of New Mexico.[84] On January 29, Clay introduced his "Omnibus Bill",[h] which would give victories to both North and South by admitting California as a free state, organizing territorial governments in New Mexico and Utah, and banning the slave trade in the District of Columbia. The bill would also toughen the Fugitive Slave Act, as resistance to enforcement in parts of the North had been a longtime Southern grievance. Clay's bill provided for the settlement of the Texas-New Mexico boundary dispute, and the status of slavery in the territories would be decided by those living there, the concept being known as popular sovereignty. Taylor was unenthusiastic about the bill, which languished in Congress. After hearing weeks of debate, however, Fillmore informed him in May 1850 that if senators divided equally on the bill, he would cast his tie-breaking vote in favor.