Paul wants to tie sanctuary cities fight to cyber bill

The Hill

By Jordain Carney

August 4, 2015

Paul wants to tie sanctuary cities fight to cyber bill 

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is hoping to tie a fight over immigration "sanctuary cities" to the Senate's cyber bill, threatening to complicate an already uphill battle to pass the legislation ahead of a five-week break.

Paul, who is running for president, has offered an amendment to the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) that would restrict federal funding for "sanctuary" cities or states that don't comply with federal immigration law or don't have a requirement that local law enforcement notify the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after they've arrested an undocumented immigrant.

Sanctuary cities have been the subject of a growing Republican political firestorm after 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle was shot, allegedly by an illegal immigrant who had already been deported five times.

Paul said that his amendment to CISA "makes it clear, the American people will not stand for cities harboring violent criminals."

It's unclear if Paul will be able to get a vote on his amendment with the Senate running out of time to pass the bill ahead of the August recess.

Senate leadership is currently trying to reach an agreement to speed up the legislation, including an deal on amendments. Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) rejected an offer Tuesday from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), which would have allowed for both parties to offer 10 amendments.

Paul's amendment to the cyber isn't the first time he's tried to pass legislation on the controversial issue. The Kentucky Republican also introduced a separate stand-alone bill last month cracking down on the cities.

The White House hopeful is offering a separate amendment to the cyber legislation related to auditing the Federal Reserve, a long-standing policy fight for Paul.

That amendment got some pushback from Reid on Tuesday, who used it as an example of Republican amendments to the cyber bill that aren't related to cybersecurity.

"I heard following the caucuses, one Republican senator wanted to offer an amendment on the cyber bill dealing with auditing the Fed," he said. "I can't imagine why that has anything to do with this bill."

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