G.W. Bush’s take on immigration
Former President George W. Bush, who normally stays out of current political issues, waded briefly into the immigration debate in an interview broadcast Sunday, urging Congress to pass legislation to overhaul the system.
“It’s very important to fix a broken system, to treat people with respect and have confidence in our capacity to assimilate people,” Bush said on “This Week” on ABC News. “It’s a very difficult bill to pass. The legislative process can be ugly. But it looks like they’re making some progress.”
Bush was a champion of immigration changes during his presidency, and his failure to pass such legislation was one of his biggest disappointments. President Barack Obama has effectively picked up the baton in pressing for a similar plan to create a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants in the country illegally, aided by newfound support among Republicans worried about the electoral implications of alienating a growing Latino vote.
Bush said politics should not be the primary motivation for reshaping immigration laws. “The reason to pass immigration reform is not to bolster a Republican Party,” he said. “It’s to fix a system that’s broken. Good policy yields good politics.”
NEW YORK TIMES
Republicans and Democrats will put good will to the test when Congress returns this week to potentially incendiary fights over nominations, unresolved disputes over student loans and the farm bill, and the uncertainty of whether lawmakers have the political will to rewrite the nation’s immigration laws.
The cooperation evident in the Senate last month with passage of a bipartisan immigration bill could be wiped out immediately if Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., frustrated with GOP delaying tactics on judges and nominations, tries to change the Senate rules by scrapping the current three-fifths majority for a simple majority.
Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has indicated it’s a decision Reid could regret if the GOP seizes Senate control in next year’s elections.
“Once the Senate definitively breaks the rules to change the rules, the pressure to respond in kind will be irresistible to future majorities,” McConnell said last month, looking ahead to 2014 when Democrats have to defend 21 seats to the GOP’s 14.
Recently elected Democrats have clamored for changes in Senate rules as Obama has faced Republican resistance to his nominations.
Two Cabinet-rank choices — Tom Perez as labor secretary and Gina McCarthy to head the Environmental Protection Agency — could be approved by the Senate this month after a loud debate over administration policies.
In the Republican-controlled House, courteous behavior, even within the GOP ranks, has barely been perceptible with the ignominious failure of the farm bill. Some collaboration will be necessary if the House is to move ahead on immigration legislation this month.
Conservatives from safe, gerrymandered House districts have rebuffed appeals from some national Republicans who argue that embracing immigration overhaul will boost the party’s political standing with an increasingly diverse electorate, especially in the 2016 presidential election. The conservatives strongly oppose any legislation offering legalization to immigrants living here illegally.
Reflecting the will of the rank and file, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and other Republicans have said the comprehensive Senate immigration bill that couples the promise of citizenship for those living here unlawfully with increased border security is a nonstarter in the House.
Republicans were assessing the views of their constituents during the weeklong July Fourth break and planned to discuss their next steps at a private meeting Wednesday.
“I think what members need before we proceed on the actual immigration reform is an ironclad guarantee that the border is going to be secure,” Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., said just before the recess. He didn’t see any urgency to acting quickly.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said Republicans would be hashing out “two key hot spots” in Wednesday’s meeting: the pathway to citizenship and health care.
A more pressing concern for some lawmakers was the fate of the five-year, half-trillion-dollar farm bill.
In a surprise last month, the House rejected the bill as 62 Republicans voted no after Boehner had urged support for the measure.
House conservatives wanted cuts deeper than $2 billion annually, or about 3 percent, in the almost $80 billion-a-year food stamp program while Democrats were furious with a last-minute amendment that would have added additional work requirements to food stamps, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
Reid has made it clear that an extension of the current farm law, passed in 2008, is unlikely as he presses the House to pass the Senate version of the bill. That leaves Boehner to figure out the next step before the current policy expires Sept. 30.
Congress also must figure out what to do about interest rates on college student loans, which doubled from 3.4 percent last Monday because of partisan wrangling in the Senate. Lawmakers promised to restore lower rates when they return this week.
Congress faces political and economic fights over the budget, with the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 and Congress plodding through spending bills with no sign they will be done on time. The House is set to vote this week on the spending bill for the Energy Department.
In addition to legislation to keep the government running, Congress probably will have to vote on whether to raise the nation’s borrowing authority, a politically fraught vote that roiled the markets in August 2009.
About the Author
