Key House chairman slams Senate immigration bill

May 22, 2013 @ 2:34 pm


FILE - In this May 20, 2013 file photo, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., left, confers with Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., center, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., as the Senate Judiciary Committee assembled to work on a landmark immigration bill to secure the border and offer citizenship to millions, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Leading senators working on immigration legislation reached a compromise Tuesday on the details of an expanded high-tech visa program, officials said as the Senate Judiciary Committee neared completion of its work on the measure. At the same time, several officials said the White House has made it known to Leahy that it would prefer postponing a showdown over the rights of same sex spouses until a vote in the full Senate. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) | Zoom

WASHINGTON (AP) - A key House committee chairman on Wednesday sharply criticized a wide-ranging immigration bill just passed by a Senate committee, underscoring the difficulties ahead as the politically volatile measure moves forward in a divided Congress.

Separately, a bipartisan House group that has been working behind the scenes to craft its own immigration measure encountered fresh difficulties.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., argued that the bill passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a bipartisan vote Tuesday "falls far short" of what is needed to end the problem of illegal immigration, and is unlikely to secure the border.

"While I commend the Senate for their continuing efforts to tackle the extremely difficult task of reforming our broken system, I must observe that S. 744 repeats many of the mistakes of the past," Goodlatte said at a hearing of his committee on the legislation. "We have serious concerns."

Goodlatte's critique was echoed by other Republicans on his panel. "I cannot find any deadline by which the border needs to be secure" under the legislation, complained Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas.

Their comments came the day after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13 to 5 to advance the measure to the full Senate, with three Republicans joining the Democratic majority. The bill would aim to enact new border controls and enforcement mechanisms in the workplace, allow tens of thousands of workers into the country legally for high- and low-skilled jobs, and create a 13-year path to citizenship for the 11 million people already here illegally.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., pledged Wednesday to bring the measure to the Senate floor in June after Congress returns from its Memorial Day recess. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he would support a vote to begin debate on the measure, although he said he remained undecided about supporting it.

"I'm undecided about the bill, but I'm not undecided about the problem," McConnell said on Fox News Channel. "The border is unsecure and we need to fix it. So I've not decided yet whether this is the bill to do that, but we've got a serious problem along the border."

Meanwhile there were new setbacks for a bipartisan House group that has been working to finalize its own measure along the lines of the Senate bill.

The group of eight lawmakers, four Democrats and four Republicans, has been promising for months to release the legislation but has encountered numerous difficulties as it tries to get a deal that could get through the Republican-controlled House while also satisfying Democratic concerns. Late last week, after reports that talks had stalled, lawmakers insisted they had an "agreement in principle." But on Wednesday lawmakers and aides said the group had new problems arising from a dispute over how to handle health care for immigrants here illegally.

Republicans in the group are trying to establish a system to ensure that no taxpayer money goes to pay for health care for people here illegally. Democrats in the group thought they had come up with a mechanism that could satisfy that concern at least well enough to act as a placeholder so the group could release the legislation, two House aides said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the private deliberations. One aide described the solution as a fund to be paid for by fees in the bill to reimburse states and local governments any costs of health care for those in the country illegally.

But, according to the aides, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other Democratic leaders objected over concerns that the legislation moved too far to the right and into areas outside of the purview of the immigration group. That caused Democratic members of the group to back off the deal.

"They had agreed to that until Democrat leadership objected," Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, a member of the group, told reporters.

"What may be the story at the end of this session is that Obamacare killed immigration reform," Labrador said.

A House Democratic leadership aide, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations, said House Democratic leaders were not trying to interfere with the House immigration group, or slow it down, but simply trying to clarify the language.

Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., a member of the immigration group who also is a member of House leadership as Democratic Caucus chairman, said group members were still talking in pursuit of a deal.

"I think the eight of us are trying very hard to make a deal," Becerra said. "I think everyone, both the Republican and Democratic leadership, are working hard to try to get a deal that could get past the House."

___

Associated Press writer Luis Alonso Lugo contributed to this report.


(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
More National News
Top Stories

  • Snowy Passes
    Escape cold Seattle; go skiing at Crystal Mountain

  • Dirty Wars
    Director Jeremy Scahill says Obama hasn't been fighting a clean war

  • Dollars Per Student
    Washington spending per student is below the national average
MyNorthwest.com - Purpose of Comments statement
Bonneville Media encourages site users to express their opinions by posting comments. Our goal is to maintain a civil dialogue in which readers feel comfortable. At times, the comments can descend to personal attacks. Please do not engage in such behavior. We encourage your thoughtful comments which: have a positive and constructive tone, are on topic, are respectful toward others and their opinions. Bonneville reserves the right to remove comments which do not conform to these criteria.

Comments (60)


  • Add A Comment

  • CH wrote...
    Repbulicans[Republicans] always will lose because they won't stand up to Obama
    January 31, 2013 6:48 pm
    ever seen a republican with balls?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HLC wrote...
    I realize CH you are only familiar with demo types bounceing off your chin.
    February 7, 2013 11:56 am
    The republicans typically have any use for that lifestyle choice that you have made.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • hnuh wrote...
    Part of the charm
    February 8, 2013 2:06 pm
    of the Republican backed parts of the current iteration of reform is that it creates a self selection between those illegals who actually want to be participants in our culture and those just here for handouts. The immigration activists quoted in the story appear to be representatives of the very much unwanted handout seeking illegals.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SickofSeattleite wrote...
    lets see....how much money will it cost for 11 million more peoples Obamacare?
    February 17, 2013 7:22 am
    and EBT and WIC and free lunch at public school plus all the Spanish publications for the parents who refuse to learn English and the free phones, free assistance with their power bill.....etc etc etc.....I think that will equal more taxes for Americans earning over 400,000 and more taxes on Americans who speak English who go to work everyday and don't accept govt hand outs even though they qualify for it because that's not how the Govt and America is supposed to work! You have the Freedom to pursue happiness not the right to all handouts for nothing...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rangerhawk wrote...
    A bipartisan solution?
    February 17, 2013 7:43 am
    Put voting booths along the Border. Dem volunteers could staff them and hand out cash from doners (not from taxpayers) and everybody wins!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rangerhawk wrote...
    Whatever
    February 17, 2013 8:49 pm
    I would expect his holiness to use another executive order and call it his El'mancipation Proclamation making all Mexicans here and there U.S. citizens eligible to vote and collect entitlement benifits.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    McCain and Graham praise Obama on immigration
    February 26, 2013 1:51 pm
    don't you just love McCain and Graham republicans?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • murr wrote...
    not sure if they can meet a self-imposed March deadline
    March 5, 2013 12:04 pm
    Sequester ?????? Self imposed ....
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    Senators look to early April for immigration bill
    March 5, 2013 5:24 pm
    what year?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • 509 wrote...
    It is ALL about cheap labor......that will make you wages go down!!
    March 22, 2013 12:54 pm
    Cats out of the bag now. Cheap labor. What is good for corporate America is bad for you and me.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }