Reid Continues Recess Push for Immigration
Democrats are continuing to put the pressure on House Republicans on immigration, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., calling on GOP leaders to take up a bipartisan bill.
Moving on immigration legislation at all is a tough haul for the House, regardless of whether it can find bipartisan support, and Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, has said that he will not bring forward a bill unless it has backing from a majority of his conference. The difficult legislative reality ahead, however, did not stop Reid from challenging his House Republican counterparts in a rally in Nevada on Monday with Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, D-Ill. Gutierrez is a member of a bipartisan House negotiating group trying to push forward with its own bill.
“Instead of trying to force a tea-party-driven bill through the House with only Republican votes, Republican leaders should work with Congressman Gutierrez to pass a bipartisan plan,” Reid said at the rally in Las Vegas, according to his prepared remarks. “Americans want their elected officials to work together to fix the nation’s problems. That’s what we did in the Senate. The House shouldn’t be any different.”
Our CQ colleague Humberto Sanchez has more details:
“There are still plenty of shortsighted and small-minded folks in Washington who want to stop this landmark legislation before it gets to President Obama’s desk to be signed into law,” Reid said in prepared remarks at a rally in Las Vegas. “Unfortunately, many of those folks serve in the House of Representatives.”
“So it’s up to all of you to stay involved,” he said. “It’s up to us to convince Republicans in the House to pass an immigration reform bill that includes a pathway to citizenship.”