Rep. Mark Takano Signs the Discharge Petition for Immigration Reform
On Wednesday, March 26, Rep. Mark Takano signed the discharge petition for the bipartisan immigration reform bill in the House. If 218 Members of the House s...
By: Rep. Mark Takano
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Rep. Mark Takano Signs the Discharge Petition for Immigration Reform - Video
House Democrats to Speaker Boehner: Time Is Now To Vote On Immigration Reform
Yesterday, House Democrats took to the east steps of the Capitol to announce a #DemandAVote petition to force a vote in the House of Representatives to final...
By: HouseDems
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House Democrats to Speaker Boehner: Time Is Now To Vote On Immigration Reform - Video
Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., left, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., walk with other House Democrats and immigration leaders to gather on the steps of the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, March 26, 2014, for a new conference to announce a DemandAVote discharge petition. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
In a last-ditch effort to move an immigration reform bill in the House, Democrats on Wednesday launched an effort to force Republicans to put their legislation up for a vote by using a procedural rule.
Known as a "discharge petition," the procedure will compel a vote on any piece of legislation if its backers are able to get a majority of the House's 435 members to agree. Although most House Democrats will sign the petition, it's highly unlikely that more than a dozen Republicans would defy the Republican leadership and join them to get the petition to the necessary 218 signatures.
As of Wednesday afternoon, not even the three Republican cosponsors of the bill, H.R. 15 - Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida and David Valadao and Jeff Denham of California - had signed on.
The petition received statements of support from many of the immigrant rights advocacy groups, but it will likely offer little more than a tool for Democrats to appeal to Hispanic voters in the next election because they will be able to point to Republicans as the obstacle to reform legislation in the House. House Democrats have also filed a discharge petition on a bill that would restore emergency unemployment benefits, which has not had success.
"Enough is enough, and Democrats are demanding a vote. It is time for Republicans to stop catering to the most extreme, anti-immigrant wing of their caucus, and allow a vote on the bipartisan immigration reform our nation so urgently needs," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelos, D-Calif., when her party unveiled the petition Wednesday.
But Pelosi has also been frank about just how much of a long shot the petition is. In response to the Democrats' efforts, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, pointed reporters to Pelosi's comments on Sirius XM radio earlier this month when she said, "We'll never get to 218 on the discharge petition."
Some Democrats have maintained that H.R. 15 - which mirrors the legislation the Senate passed last June, minus some of the more expensive enforcement provisions - would have enough support in the House if only the leadership put it on the floor.
"A discharge petition, if everyone 'signed their consciences,' would have a majority to sign it and a bill would pass on the floor," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Wednesday. He was one of the lead architects of the Senate bill.
"We realize people are under political constraints, but those who believe in immigration reform but refuse to sign the petition have an obligation to propose a viable alternative that gets an immigration bill signed into law," he said.
Excerpt from:
Weekly Address Strengthening our Economy by Passing Bipartisan Immigration Reform 1481
By: Ken Peterson
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Weekly Address Strengthening our Economy by Passing Bipartisan Immigration Reform 1481 - Video
What Immigration Reform Could Mean to US Farmers : Learning English
Learn English Conversation is a free Channel for English learners. You will find free English vocabulary Videos, English grammar Videos, English exercises an...
By: Learning English
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What Immigration Reform Could Mean to US Farmers : Learning English - Video