House Conservatives Warn President To Stop Pushing Stalled Immigration Bill

June 24, 2007 2:35 p.m. EST

Christopher Rizo - AHN Staff Writer
Washington, D.C. (AHN)-Conservative House Republicans say that the President's insistence that they support a stalled immigration overhaul languishing in the Senate could jeopardize his other priorities.

"The White House should keep in mind that if they have a direct confrontation with House Republicans on [immigration], it could affect the vote on the Iraq appropriation in September," said Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican, according to The Washington Times.

King added, "It will not affect me. I intend to stand by the president. But I do think it is something they should keep in mind for other Republicans who are borderline."

Last week, King introduced legislation that would focus on border security while eliminating many of the sticking points in the Senate proposal, including the guest worker program and the path to citizenship that would be given to an estimated 12 million immigrants in the country illegally.

Speaking more candidly, Rep. Adam Putnam of Florida warned that the White House-backed immigration bill could do "irreparable harm" to House Republican support for the President.

"If the President makes it clear he'll sign any immigration bill that gets to his desk, no matter what it looks like, then it certainly will do more harm than good," said Putnam, according to The Washington Times. Putnam is the third-ranking House Republican.

President Bush, in his weekly radio address on Saturday, called for lawmakers to summon "the political courage" to pass the Senate immigration bill.

"We have an obligation to solve problems that have been piling up for decades," the President said. "The status quo is unacceptable. We must summon the political courage to move forward with a comprehensive reform bill."

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