The White House is "hopeful" it can get a comprehensive immigration reform bill through Congress this year, after saying last Friday that the votes aren't yet there.
"We'd be hopeful of that," Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said at his daily briefing Thursday when asked if President Obama expected to be able to sign an immigration bill this year. "We'd like that."
Gibbs cautioned against setting a firm deadline, though: "I forgot my crystal ball, so I can't predict what inning the game will end in."
Gibbs told reporters last Friday "the votes aren't there right now" to achieve comprehensive reform that would give illegal residents of the U.S. a path to citizenship.
The president also prefers a comprehensive, all-at-once bill to a reform package done in pieces, Gibbs indicated.
"I think the president's approach would be to do something that's comprehensive," Gibbs said, dispelling "the idea or the notion that we can deal with this larger problem by simply dealing with one aspect."
The president welcomed a cross-section of lawmakers to the White House this afternoon for a forum on immigration reform.
The votes aren't there for the Obama administration to achieve its desired immigration reform, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday.
"We know the votes aren't there right now," Gibbs said during his daily press briefing about the congressional appetite for a comprehensive immigration reform package that would give illegal residents in the U.S. a path to citizenship.
"I think there's a seriousness in an effort, but in understanding that in 2005 and 2006 and even in 2007 there was not a majority yet to do this," Gibbs said, referencing the Bush administrations failed effort to rope in enough Republicans and centrist Democrats to pass immigration reform and a guest worker program.
The plan was derailed when conservative activists, who claimed the program would have constituted "amnesty" for illegal immigrants, managed to pick off enough Republicans in the House and Senate to forestall a vote.
Gibbs said that the White House would make an effort, though, to win the votes for a reform plan, for which President Obama reiterated his support Friday morning.
"We want to work with those both in favor and support of those previous efforts to see where we can get comprehensive immigration reform to pass," Gibbs said.
The release of photos of detainee abuse at the hands of the U.S. military would serve little purpose and potentially endanger American troops, President Obama said Wednesday.
Obama said the photos were part of a closed investigation into abuses and are "not particularly sensational" in nature.
"It's therefore my belief that the publication of these photos would not add any additional benefit to our understanding of what was carried out in the past by a small number of individuals," Obama said during an availability this afternoon in which he also spoke about the ongoing situation in Sri Lanka. "In fact, the most direct consequence of releasing them, I believe, would be to further inflame anti-American opinion and to put our troops in greater danger."
The president reversed course on the release of the photos today, leaving it having to explain its decision to backtrack on the photos.
A Texas Republican said Monday he is considering legislation that would restore proposed cuts in President Obama's budget to a program that subsidizes the jailing of illegal immigrants.
"I am hopeful there is so much bipartisan support there'll be a groundswell of support," McCaul said during an appearance on Fox News. "In fact, I'm going to look at the idea of introducing a bill to restore the funding in the budget."
McCaul said he'd float the bill before the House Homeland Security Committee, on which he serves.
The cut to SCAPP, contained in President Obama's proposed budget, had incited a minor uproar from conservative activists in favor of border security.
"I mean, this is a program that detains and incarcerates people who come into this country illegally and commit crimes," McCaul argued. "Now, why in the world this president would want to cut funding for this is beyond me."
McCaul insisted there were better programs in the budget Obama could target for elimination.
President Obama is a "cult leader" whose presidency transcends politics, former Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) claimed.
"He is -- you have to admit -- he is a cult leader. And the cult will go with him wherever he wants to go," Tancredo said on the conservative newsradio program "Dateline: Washington."
Tancredo made the remarks in respect to the way Obama has characterized his immigration priorities, which Tancredo alleges is a cover for a broader "amnesty" program.
"You just don't know about the size of the cult; how big it is -- if it's shrinking or growing," Tancredo, a rumored gubernatorial candidate in Colorado, continued. "He is not just a political figure; he is truly a cult leader."
Tancredo said he's hopeful Americans will "see through" Obama's rhetoric on immigration.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said CNN pundit Lou Dobbs can buzz off during a townhall meeting with career foreign affairs officers on Friday.
One questioner, Jan Strasser, an employee at the United States Joint Forces Command, asked what Clinton thought about a system of global governance, referencing the work on the subject by Anne-Marie Slaughter, Clinton's nomination to be the State Dept.'s Director of Policy Planning.
"Well, I can just imagine what Lou Dobbs will say about that," Clinton said to laughter, referencing the CNN host who has emphasized economic nationalism and decreased deference to larger world governing bodies.
"You know what? Who cares about Lou Dobbs?" Strasser responded.
"I agree with that," Clinton shot back to more laughter, before refusing to specifically answer the question, saying that Slaughter is working on the subject.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano apologized to veterans and other groups who read a DHS memo characterizing them as a possible domestic security risk, but said the memo's contents drew on past experience.
Republicans have taken aim at the memo, which warns of risks from "right-wing extremists," as being a politically motivated emination from the agency.
"They're not accusations. They are assessments based on what's happened in the past," she said during an appearance on CBS. "The contents of that report are not anything that's inconsistent with what we have seen in the past."
"There are a number of things that are part of the environment that law enforcement deals with on just the situational nature," Napolitano said Thursday morning during an appearance on Fox News. "That was something we were alerting people to."
Napolitano said that she had been briefed on the memo before it was sent out to local law enforcement, and said she most regretted a footnote that characterized Americans focused on a single issue like abortion or immigration as a potential risk.
"If there's one part of that report I would rewrite, in the word-smithing, Washington-ese that goes on after the fact, it would be that footnote," she said.
The Obama administration laid out its priorities to securing the Southwest U.S. border amidst a drug war in Mexico, committing to send some additional forces to the border.
Led by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano -- former governor of border state Arizona -- the U.S. government will spend $700 million to work with Mexican law enforcement to stem the drug war, and will invest in reducing the demand for drugs in the U.S. that is fueling the war in Mexico.
"The President is concerned by the increased level of violence, particularly in Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana, and the impact that it is having on the communities on both sides of the border," the White House said in a statement announcing the policy. "He believes that the United States must continue to monitor the situation and guard against spillover into the United States."
And, touching on the hot-button issue of illegal immigration, the White House was sure to note that the president is "firmly committed" to secure borders and reducing the flows of illegal immigration.
California should explore a pilot program of legal, regulated marijuana, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) said Thursday.
Sanchez, chairwoman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism, said that because of her state's receptiveness to more lenient marijuana laws, it would be a good host for an experiment in reform.
"Well, certainly, I have seen in my own state of California people over and over voting a big majority the whole issue of marijuana and possession of that," Sanchez said this morning on CNN. "So maybe it would be a good pilot program to see how that regulation of marijuana might happen in California since the populous, the majority of Californians believe maybe that's should happen."
Taking a page from a number of those who favor the reform of pot laws, Sanchez likened the issue to the prohibition of alcohol in the early 20th century.
"Well, certainly there is one drug -- it's called alcohol -- that we prohibited in the United States and had such a problem with as far as underground economy and cartels of that sort that we ended up actually regulating it and taxing it," she said. "And so there has always been this thought that maybe if we do that with drugs, it would lower the profits in it and make some of this go away."
Sanchez's comments come amidst a furious drug war in Mexico between drug cartels. Sanchez's subcommittee would have direct jurisdiction over the American side of the war.
Additionally, the suggestion also comes after the federal government announced it would not prosecute many medical marijuana consumers in California, a change in tone from the Bush administration. The Obama administration also named Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske as its drug czar this week.
A number of Republican lawmakers will be attending this year's U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) Legislative Conference next week, contrary to the report (and complaints) of a conservative blogger.
At least seven GOP lawmakers from the House and Senate will be in attendance at various events next week, according to the USHCC's website and spokesman, Dale Crowell.
"The USHCC is a nonpartisan organization, and we try very hard to have a balanced agenda of activities," said Crowell, adding the organization has reached out to a "broad swath" of lawmakers from both parties. "It's always a challenge getting people scheduled."
Crowell said the Republican participation this year is on par with past years, which has included attendance from Cabinet representatives, and briefings with then-President Bush. He added that a number of Republican lawmakers have only confirmed their appearance in recent days.
Conservative blogger John Hawkins, citing an anonymous "very credible Capitol Hill source," reported that no Republicans would attend.
"This is a big part of the GOP's problem with minority outreach: the Democrats show up at events like this with bells on while the Republicans can't even be bothered to drop in and say 'hello' to a friendly crowd," Hawkins wrote in criticism.
Here is the list of confirmed lawmakers to attend:
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