New Democrat Coalition to Join Democratic Leaders to Introduce Comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation Today
The leaders of the New Democrat Coalition’s Immigration Task Force, long seen as key leaders within the House Democratic Caucus on a comprehensive measure to reform our immigration system and continuing our economic recovery, issued the following statement today to announce that the Coalition would lead the way on a comprehensive immigration reform bill.
“As Members of the New Democrat Coalition, we’ve been working hard to fix our badly broken immigration system in a way that will include a pathway to citizenship, create millions of new American jobs, lower our deficit by billions and pave the way for a new American economic boom. Unfortunately, our request that comprehensive immigration reform come to the floor by September 30th has not been met. We will, therefore, move the process forward using the Democratic Caucus bill as a vehicle. The time for the House to act is now.”
In August, the New Democrat Coalition issued an ultimatum to Speaker Boehner urging the Speaker to bring comprehensive immigration reform to the floor by September 30. Coalition leaders had grown “disappointed” that the House majority had failed to bring a comprehensive immigration reform bill to the floor over the weeks following the Senate passage of its bill, according to the letter sent from Coalition leaders to Boehner.
New Democrat Coalition leaders led the charge for the Democratic leadership’s bill to introduce comprehensive immigration reform after the letter was sent. The Caucus bill eliminates the border security language of the Senate-passed bill and replaces it with language drafted by Reps. Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Bennie Thompson (D-MS). New Democrat Coalition Members support the Caucus approach, saying that it reflected the Coalition’s requirements that an effort to reform the immigration system be comprehensive and bipartisan.
“The New Democrat Coalition firmly believes that we must pass a pro-growth, comprehensive bill before the end of the year – especially because elements of such a bill have received the support of leaders in both parties. After all, we can all agree that the economic benefits of immigration reform – creating jobs, spurring innovation and encouraging entrepreneurs to come to our shores – are too great to pass up,” the New Democrat Coalition’s immigration leaders said.
The above statements received the endorsement of the New Dems’ leadership – Chairman Rep. Ron Kind (WI-03), Vice-Chair Rep. Jim Himes (CT-04), Vice-Chair Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02), Vice-Chair Rep. Allyson Schwartz (PA-13), New Dems’ Immigration Task Force Co-Chairs: Rep. Jared Polis (CO-03), Rep. Joaquin Castro (TX-20) and Rep. Joe Garcia (FL-26), as well as the New Dems Tech Task Force Vice-Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene (WA-01).
The New Democrat Coalition is dedicated to maintaining America’s standing as the world’s strongest, most successful nation. Founded in 1997, the New Dems believe firmly in the power of American ingenuity and innovation, and are focused on finding ways to foster and harness this creativity to grow our economy, create new American jobs, and ensure a safer and more secure future for our country.
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