Thread: House conservatives continue to buck GOP on immigration

House conservatives continue to buck GOP on immigration

By STEPHANIE CONDON /
CBS NEWS/ May 14, 2013, 1:50 PM

VIDEO AT LINK - Must Watch

Republicans in both the House and the Senate have supported the ongoing effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform, but a handful of conservative House Republicans opposed to the effort made clear on Tuesday that they're not going anywhere.

To illustrate just how adamantly he opposes any legislative effort that includes "amnesty" -- or a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country -- Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said that the idea is worse than Obamacare.

"I've spent years of my life fighting against Obamacare," King said to reporters Tuesday, at a press conference in front of the U.S. Capitol. "If [there] was somehow an offer that said you're going to get one or the other, I would take Obamacare and try to live with that before I ever try to live with this amnesty plan."

While Obamacare could still be repealed or rolled back, he said that when it comes to granting legal status to undocumented immigrants, "that genie can't be put back in the bottle."

King was joined by Reps. Mo Brooks, R-Ala.; John Fleming, R-La.; Louis Gohmert, R-Texas; Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.; and Steve Stockman, R-Texas. Reps. Lou Barletta, R-Pa., and Lamar Smith, R-Texas, also oppose the comprehensive reform efforts.

The congressmen explained their opposition to "amnesty" is about the economy, national security issues and preserving the "rule of law."

Gohmert said that if the nation sets the precedent of changing the rules for certain undocumented immigrants, the nation risks "disintegrating into the same type of chaos from which these people came."

The Texas congressman added that he supports legal immigration but that the first step in any reform effort must be securing the border. Gohmert insisted the Obama administration isn't doing enough to secure the border -- even though the U.S. government is spending more on immigration enforcement than all other principal federal criminal law enforcement agencies combined, according to the Migration Policy Institute, while the number of undocumented immigrants has declined from its peak of 12 million in 2007. Because of increased border security spending in recent years, 57 percent of the southern border under effective control, up from 31 percent in 2007, according to government estimates.

Nevertheless, Gohmert asked, "Why are we standing for a president who won't secure the border?"

For President Obama to say he won't secure the border first, he continued, would be, "hypothetically, like some random president saying, 'Hey media, if you don't write good stories, I'm going to go into your phone records on a regular basis until you start - just hypothetically... ... None of us would stand for that, right?"
Gohmert was referencing the recent revelation that the Justice Departmentsecretly obtained two months' worth of the Associated Press' phone records.

In spite of the impassioned opposition to comprehensive immigration reform, several prominent Republicans, including some GOP leaders, have remained supportive of the effort. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said last week with respect to immigration reform, "This is an issue that has been around far too long and needs to be dealt with, and I intend to see that it's dealt with."

In the Senate, meanwhile, the Judiciary Committee continued the job of considering hundreds of amendments to the comprehensive bill drafted by the bipartisan "gang of eight."

After a lengthy debate over the pros and cons of biometric entry and exit systems at the border, the committee rejected an amendment, introduced by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., requiring such a tracking system. The committee also rejected an amendment from Sessions that would have limited the number of legal immigrants that could enter the country on worker visas.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-...n-immigration/

The Texas congressman added that he supports legal immigration but that the first step in any reform effort must be securing the border. Gohmert insisted the Obama administration isn't doing enough to secure the border -- even though the U.S. government is spending more on immigration enforcement than all other principal federal criminal law enforcement agencies combined, according to the Migration Policy Institute, while the number of undocumented immigrants has declined from its peak of 12 million in 2007. Because of increased border security spending in recent years, 57 percent of the southern border under effective control, up from 31 percent in 2007, according to government estimates.

Nevertheless, Gohmert asked, "Why are we standing for a president who won't secure the border?"

These pro Obama and pro amnesty liberal reporters always defend Obama's positions and the Globalists they serve within the article like this. Notice how the opinions of others are stated as if they were fully verified facts by this writer... STEPHANIE CONDON.

This is not a news report. This is an opinion piece written by CBS and STEPHANIE CONDON in favor of Obama and amnesty for illegals.

W

I posted several CNN pieces this morning, they show the slant of the MSM for the Democrat's interest.

Graham and Flake should just go ahead and switch parties since they are supporting the Socialist/Democrat take over of this country through socialist ,low information immigrant vote saturation. They must be poised to make a lot of money from their handlers, JMO

10:41 pm - May 14, 2013 — Updated: 10:41 pm - May 14, 2013


By Steve Tetreault

Stephens Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Steve King served notice Tuesday that House conservatives will push back against an immigration plan moving in Congress, declaring it an “amnesty” bill even worse for the country than health care overhaul.

“You know how badly I despise Obamacare,” King, R-Iowa, said at a news conference. “But if there was an offer that said you are going to get one or the other and you have to choose one, I would take Obamacare and try to live with that before I’d ever accept this amnesty plan.

“We can repeal Obamacare. We can, over time, pay for it. We can, over time, get back our doctor-patient relationships, but if this amnesty goes through, there is no undoing it. The genie of the left will have escaped from the bottle, and he will be as amorphous as a puff of smoke, and we will not get him back in the bottle.”

Speaking to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol, King said he and a half dozen other Republican conservatives plan to organize against the immigration bill that would offer a path to citizenship to 11 million undocumented U.S. residents. A version of the bill is being formed in the Senate Judiciary Committee based on the work of a “Gang of Eight” negotiating team of four Democrats and four Republicans.

A small group of House members are writing a separate version, while Rep. Robert Goodlatte, R-Va., the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has said he prefers, at least at first, to focus on smaller bills that address agriculture workers and employment verification programs.

King said he and his allies plan to deliver speeches, write op-eds and hold press conferences to speak out against a comprehensive bill, which they contend will open floodgates to immigrants, while stopping short of ensuring the U.S. border with Mexico will be secure from illegal entry.

King was flanked by five fellow GOP conservatives at the press conference.

Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas, predicted immigration legislation ultimately will fail.

“They may have the Gang of Eight,” said Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas. “We are going to have a gang of millions.”

http://amestrib.com/sections/news/po...obamacare.html

By Allison Sullivan and Corey Kane | May 14, 2013 | Updated: May 15, 2013 12:44am
chron.com

WASHINGTON - The Gang of Eight? Steve Stockman thinks that eight is not enough.

The conservative Republican lawmaker from Texas predicted Tuesday that "a Gang of Millions … will rise up against" the Senate immigration bill crafted by a bipartisan group of eight senators.

Stockman said the Senate immigration deal ultimately "will fail, because the people are stronger than the Gang of Eight."

Stockman and fellow Texas GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert said at a press conference that the bill is "fundamentally unfair" to immigrants who came to the country legally and that it ignores current immigration laws.

Gohmert and Stockman joined Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, and several other conservative House members outside the Capitol to denounce the Senate immigration bill because, they said, it "destroys the rule of law" and provides "amnesty" for millions of immigrants.

Cruz plan shot down

Across the Capitol grounds, the Senate Judiciary Committee was doing little to alter the Gang of Eight's blueprint. In its second day of immigration reform debate, the panel focused Tuesday on the issue of highly skilled immigrant workers after closing the book on proposals to improve border security.

The panel shot down a proposal from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to increase the number of highly skilled workers allowed to enter the U.S. Senators also rejected changes proposed by GOP members aimed at ensuring companies hire Americans before turning to guest workers on H1B visas.

"If you want to hire Americans first, you've got to police the system to make sure that it isn't cheated, and there are people that are cheating," Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said before the defeat of his proposal on Tuesday.

Cruz's plan would have increased the number of legal immigrants.

"Immigrants, in particular, have a record of starting cutting edge new companies, new industries, and generating economic growth," Cruz told the committee.

Currently, the U.S. accepts 65,000 highly skilled workers under the H1B visa program per year. Cruz's proposal would have raised this to 325,000. The committee shot it down, keeping it at the level the Gang of Eight set at 110,000.

Science education

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, successfully added an amendment to increase funding for science education paid for by immigrant employers.

Hatch's proposal would increase the fee employers pay for hiring H1B workers from $500 to $1,000. The fees would fund science, technology, engineering and math education - widely known as STEM.

It was one of the few Republican amendments that survived committee consideration Tuesday. Lawmakers defeated Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions' proposal to use fingerprinting technology to track immigrants leaving the country.

The committee plans to complete debate on visas on Thursday, and then will move next to employment verification.

http://oneoldvet.com/

http://www.chron.com/news/article/St...le-4516310.php