Bloomberg
By Billy House
January 26, 2015
House
Republican leaders decided to postpone this week’s scheduled vote on a
$10 billion border-security bill as part of weather-related revisions to
the chamber’s schedule.
The
bill, H.R. 399, has been dropped from Wednesday’s calendar. That day
ends the week’s House action because Democrats will head to Philadelphia
that afternoon for their
annual issues retreat through Friday.
No
new date for the border bill vote was announced in the alert from
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s office. The notice also said all votes
on Monday had been scrapped
because of inclement weather.
Votes
are still scheduled Tuesday on several bills related to human
trafficking, and the following day the House will consider H.R. 351, a
measure to expedite Energy Department
approval for exporting liquefied natural gas.
Representative
Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee,
said it wasn’t a coincidence the border funding bill’s consideration was
postponed.
‘Murky Prospects’
“They
can blame inclement weather all they want, but we all know that it was
the storm clouds over this bill and its murky prospects that are the
real drivers,” Thompson
said.
The
border legislation, sponsored by Homeland Security Chairman Michael
McCaul, a Texas Republican, is intended to be a first step in House
Republicans’ plans to address
U.S. immigration laws.
Republicans,
including a spokeswoman for Majority Whip Steve Scalise -- Hoyer’s
vote-counting counterpart -- say Democrats’ contentions about delaying
the bill aren’t
true. They say Scalise hadn’t begun to officially “whip” votes on the
measure.
“We haven’t even whip-checked it yet,” said Moira Smith, in an e-mail statement.
“Too
many members’ travel was affected by the snow,” said Michael Steel, a
spokesman for Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, in a statement.
Thousands
of flights have been canceled, and the National Weather Service has
said as much as two feet of snow may fall in New York, with up to three
feet of snow in Boston
and eastern New England.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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