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House GOP disapproves of Senate immigration bill |
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By Jackie Kucinich
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Posted: 06/26/07 12:36 PM [ET] |
House Republicans disapprove of the Senate immigration bill that is expected to go back to the floor for debate Tuesday afternoon, according to a resolution that was floated during a House GOP meeting Tuesday morning.
The one-line resolution, which simply reads, “resolved the House GOP Conference disapproves of the Senate immigration bill,” was offered by Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.). It is expected to pass the House Republican Conference by a large margin when the body meets again Tuesday evening at 5:30 p.m., despite the fact the Senate bill’s language has yet to be finalized.
While the conference did not take a vote on the resolution this morning, a motion to table the resolution offered by Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) was defeated by a vote of about 80-20, according to sources familiar with the meeting.
“There’s growing momentum on the House side to have our voices registered on the Senate immigration bill,” Hoekstra said during a press conference today.
Hoekstra said the amnesty provision, no matter how strict the language, was a deal-breaker for most House Republicans.
“That’s why the fundamental bill has no credibility, and basically what we are saying today is it is dead-on-arrival in the House, we can’t have secret deals, this has to go through committee, it has to go in pieces,” echoed Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.). “A comprehensive bill will not pass the House.”
The resolution does not mention President Bush, who has vocalized his support for the bill.
Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) will attend Tuesday’s weekly bicameral meeting between GOP leadership and the president.
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