Mar 12 2008
House GOP Want to Force Vote on Shuler’s Immigration Bill
WASHINGTON — Rep. Heath Shuler’s immigration bill could get a vote on the House floor soon courtesy of Republican lawmakers.The Republican leadership supports a discharge petition to force a vote on Shuler’s legislation that would strengthen border security and tighten requirements on employers to verify workers’ legal status. The move tries to force Democrats to take up the immigration issue.
“For far too long, the Democratic majority has failed to deal with internal divisions within their caucus on border security and blocked a vote on this important issue,†said Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, House minority leader. “House Republicans will now give our colleagues — on both sides of the aisle — the chance to force a vote on this long-overdue legislation.â€
Shuler, D-Waynesville, voted for the discharge petition Tuesday.
Nancy Pelosi claims to object to this legislation because it lacks provisions to make it easier for the family of a legal immigrant to come here along with them. Her decision isn’t about caring for these people; it’s about gaining additional voters for her party. She is playing politics with our nation’s security. Illegal immigration has become a monumental problem in this country and it has to be dealt with. Shuler’s bill will go a long way in correcting the problem.
It will be interesting to see how this one plays out. If the Democratic leadership ends up going along with Shuler here, it might save his butt in November. Anything less than that, and his opponent (whoever that may be) can chain him to his party’s failure and throw him overboard.
(By the way, I’m rooting for Constitutional expert John Armor - http://www.armorforcongress )
And I should add that I think Shuler’s chance at re-election is over-rates by groups like Congressional Quarterly.
I think Shuler is going to be hard for any Republican to beat. He is popular in the district and has remained fairly conservative on social issues.