Rubio downcast about immigration reform, casts blame on Obama
Rubio downcast about immigration reform, casts blame on Obama
Published October 20, 2013FoxNews.com
Sen. Marco Rubio gave a downcast assessment Sunday about Congress passing immigration reform, arguing that fellow Republicans are leery about dealing with President Obama on the issue since he would not negotiate fairly during the recent fiscal crisis.
“Immigration reform is going to be a lot harder to accomplish than it was three weeks ago,” Rubio, R-Fla., who helped pass the Senate legislation handed to the Republican-controlled House, told “Fox News Sunday.”
Rubio said he agreed with Idaho Republican Rep. Raul Labrador who last week said House Republican leadership would be “crazy” to negotiate with Obama if the president makes the same “good faith effort” on an immigration bill that he did on fiscal negotiations and that Obama is “trying to destroy” the Republican Party.
“That’s not to say” Obama might have agreed to a path to citizenship for some of the roughly 11 million illegal immigrants in the country and enforcing the laws, only to cancel the enforcement component, Rubio questioned.
The issue returned to the spotlight hours after Congress agreed on a deal to temporarily end the partial government shutdown and increase the federal debt limit, when Obama called on Congress on Thursday to swiftly reach an immigration-reform agreement.
“If the House has ideas on how to improve the Senate bill, let’s hear them. Let’s start the negotiations,” the president said. “This can and should get done by the end of this year.”
Despite Rubio’s reservations about negotiating with the president, he was steadfast in his argument that the country needs to fix a broken immigration system.
“There’s no argument the immigration system has to be fixed,” he told Fox News.
Rubio also defended himself and the Senate legislation, which has been called an amnesty program.
He said the country is now operating under a “de facto” amnesty program and that he’s not concerned about his sagging poll numbers amid a potential 2016 presidential run.
“I continue to believe it’s an important issue for our nation to confront,” Rubio said.
His comments come amid concerns from conservatives who think House leaders might meet with Senate negotiators, which would result in the low chamber’s step-by-step plan, which begins with securing U.S. borders, being “blended” with the upper chamber’s comprehensive plan.
Rubio also said the House deserves “time and space” to craft its own legislation that “might be even better.”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013...lame-on-obama/
Obama has 'undermined' immigration reform effort, Sen. Rubio says
By Julian Hattem - 10/20/13 09:33 AM ET
The Hill
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) said that President Obama’s handling of the 16-day government shutdown has made the path to reforming the country’s immigration system more difficult.
Republicans’ lack of trust for the president, Rubio said on “Fox News Sunday,” makes the prospect of a final bill bleaker than ever.
“The president has undermined this effort,” he said.
“I certainly think that immigration reform is a lot harder to achieve today than it was just three weeks ago,” he added.
He said that conservatives who oppose legislating “amnesty” for immigrants who came to the country illegally don’t believe that the White House would follow the letter of the law in implementing any bill that called for enforcement alongside legalization.
“You have a government and a White House that has consistently decided to ignore the law or how to apply it,” he said, noting a decision earlier this year to delay until 2015 a key requirement of ObamaCare that was originally set to take effect next year.
Rubio said that he was happy to have House lawmakers pass immigration reform legislation that was different than the Senate’s bill, and said it may be an improvement from the one he helped write.
“The House deserves the time and space to craft their own solution,” he said.
Rubio noted that his poll numbers have declined in recent weeks, after the Senate passed an immigration reform bill.
He noted that that should prove the political difficulty of tackling immigration reform, but that “I was in an position to make a possible difference.”
President Obama has said that he wants immigration reform completed by the end of the year, as one of the top items on his agenda.
Rubio also said on Sunday that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) should be commended for his work to lead Republicans in the Senate during negotiations to end the government shutdown and raise the nation's debt ceiling.
Rubio said he supported McConnell's reelection race against a Tea Party-backed primary challenger, Matt Bevin.
“I do support Sen. McConnell’s reelection,” he said. “I think he’s trying to lead our conference.”
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