Hearing on immigration overhaul bill delayed, another announced

Tue, 2013-04-16 08:46 AM By: Mark Rockwell Government Security News

Border fence
The Senate Judiciary Committee has delayed a hearing on hotly-anticipated comprehensive immigration reform legislation until April 19, and scheduled another for the week of April 22.
Committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy changed the hearing schedule on April 15, in the face of criticism from some Republicans that the legislation was being rushed through congress. The bill was set to be introduced on April 16 by the bi-partisan “Gang of Eight” lawmakers who crafted it. Leahy said on April 15 only that the bill would be introduced “this week.” Reports said the group would brief the president on April 16 on the legislation, but reportedly the events in Boston have taken precedence.
“Over the course of the next week,” said Leahy in an April 15 statement, “the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold two hearings on a forthcoming, bipartisan proposal to reform the Nation's broken immigration system." DHS secretary Janet Napolitano is slated to testify at the April 19 hearing.
"I look forward to reviewing the bill, holding prompt hearings on the legislation, and proceeding to debating and marking up legislation on this important issue," said Leahy.
Previously, the Senate Judiciary Committee had scheduled a single hearing for Wednesday, April 17. The move drew fire from some Republicans who said the measure hadn’t been adequately discussed. The bill, reportedly 1,500 pages long, would make sweeping changes, from establishing a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, to increasing the number and category of foreign work visas, as well as bolster border security.
The “Gang of Eight” group, which has been steadily working on the legistlation for months, is composed of Sens. Charles Schumer (D-NY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Michael Bennet (D-CO), John McCain (R-AZ), Lindsey Graham(R-SC), Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ).
The move didn’t silence critics of the bill, however. "Chairman Leahy's decision to now hold two hearings in two days -- on one Friday, one on Monday -- is only further proof of the Majority's desire to rush this bill with minimum public scrutiny," said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) in a statement. Sessions and Sen. Charles Grassley, (R-IA) have been steadily opposed to the measure. "We are talking about legislation that will impact virtually every aspect of our society, reshape our entire immigration system, introduce at least 30 million new foreign workers into the economy, and directly impact every single American worker and taxpayer,” he said. “Something is truly broken in Washington when the people, the law enforcement officers who protect them, and the people's representatives, have less time to review the bill than the special interests who helped write it.”
　
　
http://www.gsnmagazine.com/node/28927?c=border_security