WASHINGTON — Sen. Charles Schumer predicted yesterday that sweeping immigration reform would pass the Senate by July 4 — while action in the House remains clouded.
The Senate will begin taking up its legislation on June 10, and bill supporters hope to get 70 votes to pressure the House to act, said Schumer (D-NY).
Although House leaders say they will likely spurn a Senate bill, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will be under pressure to produce similar legislation, Schumer said.
“Congressman Boehner is in a box,” Schumer said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “There are about 60 to 70 of his people who are against any immigration reform, but at the same time, he knows that the Republican Party will be consigned to a minority party for a generation if they are anti-immigration.”
“So my advice to him is let’s see what happens in the Senate bill. If we can come out of the Senate with close to a majority of the Republican senators and almost every Democrat, that may change the equation in the House.”
Schumer also insisted that the scandals dogging the Obama administration “have not diverted us one iota” from reform efforts.
The eight authors of the Senate bill, Republicans and Democrats alike, remain united, he said.
“You have, on the Gang of Eight, three of the people who’ve been most critical of the president on some of these other issues,” Schumer said.
But House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), whose panel will handle most of the chamber’s immigration legislation, said yesterday that he doesn’t support a comprehensive bill or a path to citizenship, as the Senate measure maps out.
Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” he said he first wants to address issues such as border security and internal enforcement.
“We think it’s better to do it with a step-by-step approach,” Goodlatte said.
Republicans control the House, 233-201. A bipartisan group of eight House members say they have reached an “agreement in principle” on comprehensive legislation.
That bill is expected to be unveiled this month.