Tensions on Capitol Hill that were building since the Boston Marathon attacks burst into full view Monday, as a top Republican senator angrily rebutted accusations that he was using the deadly bombings to derail immigration reform.
During a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, a clearly agitated Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) abruptly yelled at Sen. Chuck Schumer as the New York Democrat called on critics to stop using last week’s bombings as a chance to slow down an overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws.
“I never said that!” Grassley shouted, turning toward Schumer. “I never said that!”
“I don’t mean you, Mr. Grassley,” Schumer told the Iowa senator.
4/22/13 10:42 AM EDT Updated: 4/22/13 1:07 PM EDT
By SEUNG MIN KIM
Politico.com
Schumer added that he wasn’t directing his comments at anyone else on the Judiciary Committee. But the Democrat — an author of the overhaul bill, said he had heard “lots of calls” from across the nation to delay immigration reform in light of the attacks.
Grassley, the top Judiciary Republican, was one of the first to link the Boston attacks to immigration reform. He said last week: “We appreciate this opportunity to talk about immigration reform in light of all that has been happening in Massachusetts.” The comments came as a citywide dragnet was unfolding across Boston for suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Other Republicans — such as Indiana Sen. Dan Coats — have gone further, explicitly calling for Congress to take a breather from immigration reform as authorities continue their investigation into the bombings that killed three and injured nearly 200 people.
The Tsaernaev brothers emigrated to the United States legally as children, and Dzhokar Tsarnaev is a naturalized U.S. citizen, according to authorities. Tamerlan was a green card holder.
“I’m afraid we’ll rush to some judgments relative to immigration and how it’s processed so let’s do it in a rational way,” Coats said on ABC on Sunday. “Just push it back a month or two… We’re talking months here, not years.”
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who negotiated the immigration bill and is a critical conduit to the conservative wing of the GOP, argued that the Boston bombings were relevant to the immigration debate. Lawmakers should fix any shortcomings in the current immigration system that may be revealed in the investigation into the Boston attack, Rubio said.
“The attack reinforces why immigration reform should be a lengthy, open and transparent process, so that we can ask and answer important questions surrounding every facet of the bill,” Rubio said in a statement Monday. “But we still have a broken system that needs to be fixed.”
Elsewhere on Capitol Hill Monday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) fired off a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), arguing that Congress “should not proceed” with immigration reform until lawmakers had a clearer picture of the Tsarnaev brothers’ background.
”Why did the current system allow two individuals to [emigrate] to the United States from the Chechen Republic in Russia, an area known as a hotbed of Islamic extremism, who then committed acts of terrorism?” Paul wrote to Reid. “Were there any safeguards? Could this have been prevented? Does the immigration reform before us address this?”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy had opened Monday’s immigration hearing with a strong rebuke of of those who have called for slowing down immigration reform in the bombings’ wake.
In the second hearing since a comprehensive bill overhauling the nation’s immigration laws was unveiled last week, Leahy (D-Vt.) called for “restraint” as he accused opponents of reform of exploiting the bombings.
“Let no one be so cruel as to try to use the heinous acts of two young men last week to derail the dreams and futures of millions of hardworking people,” Leahy said before a packed crowd on Capitol Hill attending the hearing.
Senators on the so-called Gang of Eight that drafted the 844-page legislation, particularly its Republican members, have furiously fought back and said comprehensive reform would bolster the safety of the country.
“Immigration reform will strengthen our nation’s security by helping us identify exactly who has entered our country and who has left – a basic function of government that our broken immigration system is incapable of accomplishing today,” Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said. “The status quo is unacceptable.”
A key witness scheduled to appear last week – Janet Napolitano, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security – was not able to show because of the Boston attacks; Leahy said Monday that Napolitano would appear Tuesday morning.
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