Thread: Congressman: Senate immigration bill unconstitutional

Congressman: Senate immigration bill unconstitutional

By Stephen Dinan
The Washington Times
Friday, June 28, 2013

Rep. Steve Stockman, a Texas Republican, said Friday that the Senate immigration bill is a revenue measure, which makes it unconstitutional because all revenue bills must start in the House.

“Not only is the Senate amnesty bill an abuse of taxpayers and immigrants, it’s utterly unconstitutional,” Mr. Stockman said. “The Senate cannot invent its own amnesty taxes.”

He called on House Speaker John A. Boehner to officially reject the Senate bill as unconstitutional using what’s known in Congress as the “blue slip” process, which is when the House informs the Senate that one of its bills contains taxes or spending and therefore must come from the House.

Blue slip procedures are considered privileged motions and can be brought quickly to the chamber floor for debate and a final vote.

Article I, Section 7, Clause 1 of the Constitution says that “all bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House,” which has traditionally meant both tax and spending bills.

Mr. Boehner has already said the Senate bill is dead on arrival and won’t be considered in the House, which will work on its own version.

House Republicans are set to meet July 10 to talk about how to proceed on the issue.

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Added to Homepage with slightly amended title--

http://www.alipac.us/content/congres...tutional-2013/

Saturday, June 29, 2013
by Judson Phillips
The Washington Times


Photo AP

WASHINGTON, June 29, 2013 — Amnesty is now in the hands of the House of Representatives.

This prospect should scare the hell out of conservatives. Since the tea party put the Republicans back in control in 2010, the House has been a tremendous disappointment. Not only have they not advanced a conservative agenda, they haven’t even tried.

John Boehner is being hit on all sides. The establishment desperately wants him to pass amnesty. The conservative base is warning him not to. Boehner is not a courageous leader and he may be looking for a way out.

There is one. It is a very simple way out that Boehner could use and have the perfect excuse for killing amnesty.

According to Texas Republican Steve Stockman, the amnesty bill is unconstitutional because it is a tax. The Constitution is very specific that all revenue bills must originate in the House of Representatives.

Stockman wants Boehner to use what the House refers to as a “blue slip” process. A “blue slip” is the paper messages the House used to send to the Senate (on blue paper) that told the Senate it could not accept a Senate bill because it was a tax and that must originate in the House of Representatives.

Stockman is not only correct; the plan is brilliant, and it gives Boehner the perfect out. All Boehner has to do is tell the pro-amnesty, establishment Republicans that the Senate screwed up by creating a tax in the bill and he has no choice but to send it back.

This effectively kills Amnesty until the “Gang of Eight” can try to push it through again.

House Republicans are not going to meet until July 10 to discuss how they will proceed on amnesty so this gives us a lot of time. This upcoming week, conservatives should be calling their representatives and telling them that Congress must reject the amnesty bill (S.744) because it is a tax bill and is unconstitutional.

Conservatives must create pressure for the House to act. House Republicans have been thrown a lifeline and they need to grab it.

On Friday, Sarah Palin blasted the Republican establishment on her Facebook page and suggested she might even leave the Republican Party. She is not the only one who is thinking this way.

While many of us believe in the Reagan maxim that if you vote with us eighty percent of the time, you are an ally, not an enemy, amnesty is the exception to that. Amnesty is a litmus test. Amnesty is the unforgiveable sin. Amnesty is the line in the sand.

If the Republican Party passes amnesty in the House, then the Republican Party is dead to real Americans. If the Republican Party in the House passes amnesty, then it is the ultimate sell out of the conservative base and there can be only one answer to that. If the Republican Party wants to commit political suicide by passing amnesty, then here is the Whig Party Memorial Bridge. Help yourself and jump.

Real Americans are sick of the Republican Party selling out American principles and beliefs. The Republican Party may not survive the Senate amnesty vote. It will never survive if the House approves amnesty.

As the Speaker of the House, Boehner has absolute control over what comes up for a vote. He can kill amnesty and save the Republican Party in one easy step.

All he has to do is follow Stockman’s advice.

The job for the conservative movement next week is to help the Republican Congress and the speaker see the light.

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