The Christian Science Monitor, 02/18/2013 –
“Rep. Bob Goodlatte, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, didn’t get the…assignment among Republican lawmakers in fixing the nation’s immigration laws.
“While Sen. Marco Rubio…and Rep. Raul Labrador…are the public Latino faces fighting…for an immigration fix, Representative Goodlatte is…making sure that, however the immigration reform debate breaks, House Republicans will be ready.
“…Goodlatte’s goal is to ensure that the long-abandoned committee process for considering legislation is thrumming along robustly so that if bipartisan compromise comes, it will be absorbed into an already-moving process with members already well-educated on the issues.
“If bipartisan compromise proves elusive, Goodlatte's efforts will unearth the pieces of immigration reform that House Republicans can support in order to patch as much of the system as possible.
“…‘We want to encourage [the bipartisan groups] to produce a work product. We will take that and then see what additional concerns we have, and we will take that to the broader membership of the House and see what their reaction is to it,’ Goodlatte says.
“…Goodlatte’s…efforts could be key to whether immigration reform survives in the House, as Speaker Boehner has vowed not to bring bills to the floor that won’t earn votes from more than half the GOP caucus.
“‘It’s more important to…educate my members on what immigration is all about,’ Goodlatte says. ‘The average member of Congress does not deal with immigration law.’
“…‘I’m optimistic to the extent that…many people both inside and outside… Congress want to do something on this issue. But beyond that…I remain to be convinced that there is enough bipartisanship to do it,’ Goodlatte says.
“‘People on both sides are going to have to say, ‘We’re going to find solutions to these problems, both in terms of bringing people who are unlawfully [present] out of the shadows and in terms of making sure that this does not happen again [through border security],’ he continues. ‘Both sides understand that if they give some on each of those, they’ll get a lot from it.’”
To read the full article, please click here.
“Rep. Bob Goodlatte, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, didn’t get the…assignment among Republican lawmakers in fixing the nation’s immigration laws.
“While Sen. Marco Rubio…and Rep. Raul Labrador…are the public Latino faces fighting…for an immigration fix, Representative Goodlatte is…making sure that, however the immigration reform debate breaks, House Republicans will be ready.
“…Goodlatte’s goal is to ensure that the long-abandoned committee process for considering legislation is thrumming along robustly so that if bipartisan compromise comes, it will be absorbed into an already-moving process with members already well-educated on the issues.
“If bipartisan compromise proves elusive, Goodlatte's efforts will unearth the pieces of immigration reform that House Republicans can support in order to patch as much of the system as possible.
“…‘We want to encourage [the bipartisan groups] to produce a work product. We will take that and then see what additional concerns we have, and we will take that to the broader membership of the House and see what their reaction is to it,’ Goodlatte says.
“…Goodlatte’s…efforts could be key to whether immigration reform survives in the House, as Speaker Boehner has vowed not to bring bills to the floor that won’t earn votes from more than half the GOP caucus.
“‘It’s more important to…educate my members on what immigration is all about,’ Goodlatte says. ‘The average member of Congress does not deal with immigration law.’
“…‘I’m optimistic to the extent that…many people both inside and outside… Congress want to do something on this issue. But beyond that…I remain to be convinced that there is enough bipartisanship to do it,’ Goodlatte says.
“‘People on both sides are going to have to say, ‘We’re going to find solutions to these problems, both in terms of bringing people who are unlawfully [present] out of the shadows and in terms of making sure that this does not happen again [through border security],’ he continues. ‘Both sides understand that if they give some on each of those, they’ll get a lot from it.’”
To read the full article, please click here.
