Washington Post
By David Nakamura
March 25, 2014
House
Democratic leaders are renewing their pressure on Republicans over
immigration this week in hopes of forcing a vote on a comprehensive
bill.
Minority
Leader Nancy Pelosi's office on Tuesday touted a new report by the
Congressional Budget Office that said an immigration proposal offered in
the fall by House
Democrats, modeled largely after a Senate-approved plan, would reduce
federal deficits by $200 billion in the coming decade.
The
House plan, like the Senate plan, would provide a path to legal status,
and potential citizenship, for millions of undocumented immigrants,
providing a boost to economic
output and eventually increase wages broadly for American workers, the
CBO found.
Like
the Senate bill, the House version also "would lead to a significant
reduction in federal budget deficits during the second decade after
enactment," CBO Director
Douglas Elmendorf said in a letter to Pelosi (D-Calif.). The CBO
previously found the Senate plan would reduce deficits by $700 million
in the second decade.
On
Wednesday, Pelosi and other Democrats plan to file a discharge petition
in an attempt to force a vote on their immigration bill, though the
odds of such a strategy
receiving enough GOP support are remote. The petition has 200
co-sponsors, including three Republicans, but that's short of the 218
that would be needed to force Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to hold a
vote.
Boehner
has said he does not expect the House to take action on a comprehensive
immigration bill until President Obama improves trust between the White
House and GOP House
members. Many House Republicans oppose providing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and others have objected to holding a vote
on a comprehensive bill before the midterm elections.
“It’s
time to have a vote,” said Rep. Xaiver Becerra (D-Calif.), chair of the
House Democratic Caucus. “Put country before party and have a vote on
finally fixing a broken
immigration system."
"We
are asking for a vote," House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said.
"Let Americans see what their members are prepared to do to fix a broken
system.”
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