King, Schumer raise stakes over immigration reform
May 05, 2014 | 04:40 PM
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., ramped up the political battle over immigration reform late last week, after House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, gave conflicting accounts about his desire to pass immigration reform and his views on some of his fellow Republicans.
Boehner set the stage for the King-Schumer exchanges when during the congressional spring break he was seen on a video saying he believed some House Republicans were saying, “Oh, don't make me do this, oh, this is too hard,” according to a Washington Post report.
But last Tuesday Boehner told the GOP House caucus during a closed-door meeting that he was not mocking them, and that the difficulty in trusting President Barack Obama is the reason that Republicans don’t move on immigration reform, the Post reported.
“There was no mocking,” Boehner told reporters after the caucus. “You tease the ones you love. ... But some people misunderstood what I had to say. So I wanted to make sure the members understood the biggest impediment we have in moving immigration reform is that the American people don’t trust the president to enforce or implement the law that we may or may not pass.”
But this apparently did not satisfy King, who rallied conservatives against any move to bring up an immigration reform bill.
“We have to man the watchtowers 24/7,” King said, according to a Politico report on Thursday.
“It is difficult to plan a specific course of action when the leadership keeps tossing out vague ways to give amnesty to illegal aliens,” added Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., according to the Politico story.
“When we see a specific plan from the House leadership, then those of us who favor American citizens first will have a better idea of where the leadership is specifically going and how we will specifically respond.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
On Friday on the Senate floor, Schumer, a strong advocate of immigration reform and key player in the comprehensive bill that the Senate passed earlier this year, noted King’s “manning the watchtowers” statement and said, “The reason the House has done nothing on immigration is because House Republicans have handed the gavel of leadership on immigration to far rightists like Congressman Steve King. Congressman King isn’t a mainstream Republican on this issue. You can’t even call him a conservative on this issue. He’s a extreme outlier.”
Schumer pointed out the statement King made during the debate about passing a bill to allow young immigrants who are pursuing education to stay in the United States: “For every child who is a valedictorian there’s another 100 out there who weigh 130 pounds and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.”
“The rhetoric of Steve King is beyond the pale,” Schumer continued. “My guess is that Republican stomachs churn when they see Steven King spew that kind of rhetoric. But rather than stand up to him, they give him the keys to the kingdom of immigration reform.”
Schumer also said that King’s “little group of far-right members of Congress want to sue the federal government to require them to deport more children, parents of U.S. citizens and agriculture workers rather than use all of its resources to focus on immigrants who are criminals, terrorists and recent border crossers.”
Schumer also argued that if Republicans are so worried about Obama’s implementation of immigration reform, they could pass a bill that would take effect after he leaves office.
“Immigration reform will pass this year with bipartisan support and a bipartisan imprint or it will pass in future years with only Democratic support and Democratic imprint because Democrats will control Congress and the White House,” Schumer said.
If Republicans don’t pass immigration reform, Schumer added, “they are going to make it certain that they will lose the 2016 presidential election, and they will make sure that the Senate remains Democratic in 2016 and that the House turns Democratic.”
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa
On Friday, King shot back, telling The Blaze that Schumer “is trying to goad Republican leadership into the political suicide of bringing some form of amnesty to the floor in this election year.”
“The goal is, of course, is to try to save the Democrat majority in the United States Senate,” King said.
The Blaze said King estimates that in the Republican caucus, 20 to 25 members would vote for the Senate’s immigration bill, while 50 to 70 would “fight to the last drop of blood” against a comprehensive bill, while many in the middle would vote on a bill to make the issue go away.
King also told The Blaze that Schumer’s speech on Thursday was part of an effort to silence his point of view.
King said he is concerned that even small immigration measures could be used to go to conference with the Senate.
“I should actually be very, very flattered to see hundreds of millions of dollars and some of the richest people in America, and Chuck Schumer, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and all of those folks taking the time and the energy to target me,” King told The Blaze.
When asked what he was feeling if not flattery, King said, “Well, in a way I am flattered, but I’m also girding my loins for battle.”
▪ The Washington Post — Boehner: Obama, not GOP House, to blame for stalled immigration reform talks ▪ Politico — Conservatives revolt against Boehner on immigration ▪ Politico — Chuck Schumer slams House GOP on immigration ▪ The Blaze — Rep. Steve King: Passing Immigration Reform ‘Political Suicide’ for GOP
Boehner set the stage for the King-Schumer exchanges when during the congressional spring break he was seen on a video saying he believed some House Republicans were saying, “Oh, don't make me do this, oh, this is too hard,” according to a Washington Post report.
But last Tuesday Boehner told the GOP House caucus during a closed-door meeting that he was not mocking them, and that the difficulty in trusting President Barack Obama is the reason that Republicans don’t move on immigration reform, the Post reported.
“There was no mocking,” Boehner told reporters after the caucus. “You tease the ones you love. ... But some people misunderstood what I had to say. So I wanted to make sure the members understood the biggest impediment we have in moving immigration reform is that the American people don’t trust the president to enforce or implement the law that we may or may not pass.”
But this apparently did not satisfy King, who rallied conservatives against any move to bring up an immigration reform bill.
“We have to man the watchtowers 24/7,” King said, according to a Politico report on Thursday.
“It is difficult to plan a specific course of action when the leadership keeps tossing out vague ways to give amnesty to illegal aliens,” added Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., according to the Politico story.
“When we see a specific plan from the House leadership, then those of us who favor American citizens first will have a better idea of where the leadership is specifically going and how we will specifically respond.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
On Friday on the Senate floor, Schumer, a strong advocate of immigration reform and key player in the comprehensive bill that the Senate passed earlier this year, noted King’s “manning the watchtowers” statement and said, “The reason the House has done nothing on immigration is because House Republicans have handed the gavel of leadership on immigration to far rightists like Congressman Steve King. Congressman King isn’t a mainstream Republican on this issue. You can’t even call him a conservative on this issue. He’s a extreme outlier.”
Schumer pointed out the statement King made during the debate about passing a bill to allow young immigrants who are pursuing education to stay in the United States: “For every child who is a valedictorian there’s another 100 out there who weigh 130 pounds and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.”
“The rhetoric of Steve King is beyond the pale,” Schumer continued. “My guess is that Republican stomachs churn when they see Steven King spew that kind of rhetoric. But rather than stand up to him, they give him the keys to the kingdom of immigration reform.”
Schumer also said that King’s “little group of far-right members of Congress want to sue the federal government to require them to deport more children, parents of U.S. citizens and agriculture workers rather than use all of its resources to focus on immigrants who are criminals, terrorists and recent border crossers.”
Schumer also argued that if Republicans are so worried about Obama’s implementation of immigration reform, they could pass a bill that would take effect after he leaves office.
“Immigration reform will pass this year with bipartisan support and a bipartisan imprint or it will pass in future years with only Democratic support and Democratic imprint because Democrats will control Congress and the White House,” Schumer said.
If Republicans don’t pass immigration reform, Schumer added, “they are going to make it certain that they will lose the 2016 presidential election, and they will make sure that the Senate remains Democratic in 2016 and that the House turns Democratic.”
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa
On Friday, King shot back, telling The Blaze that Schumer “is trying to goad Republican leadership into the political suicide of bringing some form of amnesty to the floor in this election year.”
“The goal is, of course, is to try to save the Democrat majority in the United States Senate,” King said.
The Blaze said King estimates that in the Republican caucus, 20 to 25 members would vote for the Senate’s immigration bill, while 50 to 70 would “fight to the last drop of blood” against a comprehensive bill, while many in the middle would vote on a bill to make the issue go away.
King also told The Blaze that Schumer’s speech on Thursday was part of an effort to silence his point of view.
King said he is concerned that even small immigration measures could be used to go to conference with the Senate.
“I should actually be very, very flattered to see hundreds of millions of dollars and some of the richest people in America, and Chuck Schumer, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and all of those folks taking the time and the energy to target me,” King told The Blaze.
When asked what he was feeling if not flattery, King said, “Well, in a way I am flattered, but I’m also girding my loins for battle.”
▪ The Washington Post — Boehner: Obama, not GOP House, to blame for stalled immigration reform talks ▪ Politico — Conservatives revolt against Boehner on immigration ▪ Politico — Chuck Schumer slams House GOP on immigration ▪ The Blaze — Rep. Steve King: Passing Immigration Reform ‘Political Suicide’ for GOP
