National Review Online
June 7, 2013
By Lindsey Grudnicki


Goodlatte: House Republicans Will Not Support Senate Immigration Bill

Representative Bob Goodlatte of Virginia stated on the Laura Ingraham Show Friday that “a majority of Republicans in the House” do not support “anything like the Senate bill” on immigration. He assured Ingraham that the House would engage with the legislation “based on what a conservative approach to immigration reform should be.”


“Here’s the situation,” Goodlatte explained. “It’s done in the Senate. You’ve got prominent Republicans involved in it, and the House needs to respond to that.” A step-by-step approach to “fix a broken immigration system” — beginning with the “massive problems with illegal immigration” — would be the best way to proceed, he said.


Ingraham pushed the congressman to comment on the “quixotic” drive for comprehensive reform among Senate Republicans. Goodlatte replied that he, along with Representative Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, introduced a bill on Thursday that aimed to improve “interior enforcement” of immigration laws in order to begin the step-by-step reform in the House.


“I think state and local governments would love to have a role in enforcing” immigration, he said, and the Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement Act will offer a more robust solution to securing the borders and stopping the flood of illegal immigrants.


“We need to make sure that people know that Republicans are willing to address the problems that exist here, but they want to do it the right way,” he told Ingraham.

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