House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) assured his fellow conservatives in a private meeting Tuesday that he would not push the Senate immigration reform bill through the House without support from the majority of Republicans–a principle he has violated in the past when he has had “zero leverage,” according to Politico.
“Let me be clear,” Boehner said, according to a source in the closed GOP meeting who talked to Politico. “Immigration is not one of these scenarios. We have plenty of leverage. And I have no intention of putting a bill on the floor that will violate the principles of our majority and divide our conference. One of our principles is border security. I have no intention of putting a bill on the floor that the people in this room do not believe secures our borders. It’s not gonna happen.”
Boehner elaborated further on his concerns with the bill’s border security provisions at a weekly press conference on Capitol Hill.
“I frankly think the Senate bill is weak on border security,” he said. “I think the internal enforcement mechanisms are weak, and the triggers are almost laughable. And so if they’re serious about getting an immigration bill finished, I think the president and Senate Democrats ought to reach out to their … Republican colleagues to build broad bipartisan support for the bill.”
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) also announced today that he would be moving forward on the so-called Gang of Eight bill this weekend, filing cloture and setting up a final vote sometime next week.
“I’ve talked to the Republicans in the Gang of Eight, Democrats in the Gang of Eight,” he said on the Senate floor. “They’re working on something to deal with border security. I have no — I’m not telling anyone what to do other than to do it as quickly as you can. The time has come to make decisions on this important piece of legislation.”
