GOP Leaders Continue to Hide Behind Lame Excuses to Avoid Voting on Immigration Reform
House Republican leaders are concocting more and more excuses for their legislative inaction on immigration reform. Unfortunately for them, the excuses don’t even pass the laugh test.
Yesterday, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) issued a statement full of righteous indignation that President Obama was once again scuttling immigration reform. The object of Speaker Boehner’s ire? That President Obama had declared a new national monument in New Mexico. Say what? To Speaker Boehner, this was an unacceptable development that would supposedly compromise border security. What do officials with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials say? They noted:
This designation will in no way limit our ability to perform our important border security mission, and in fact provides important flexibility as we work to meet this ongoing priority.
To the rest of us, it’s just more evidence of Speaker Boehner finding any and every excuse to blame President Obama and others for the House’s refusal to act on immigration reform instead of looking in the mirror. Speaker Boehner’s new monument excuse for inaction arrives the same week that Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) are feeling the heat for their comments and contradictions on the ENLIST Act. Both Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Cantor have rejected including the ENLIST Act as an amendment to the defense authorization bill, but have voiced their support for the merits of the bill, only to refuse to commit to a future vote.
According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
The monumental ridiculousness on display from House leadership on immigration is increasingly desperate and transparent. Just this week, we’ve been treated to the following excuses: the House can’t do immigration reform because the President declared a national monument; allowing committed and qualified young people to serve in the military has nothing to do with a military authorization bill; and despite all evidence to the contrary, Boehner and Cantor still support the ENLIST Act and tackling immigration reform.
House Republican leaders are acting as if they are powerless to effect the need for immigration reform. Perhaps they should remember they have one key advantage over the of us mere citizens: they can schedule a vote anytime they want. If they don’t, they will build their own monument for the Republican Party, one with a headstone that reads GOP RIP.
327 Days Since Senate Passed its Immigration Bill; 37 Days Left Until Window of Opportunity Closes
