Immigration Bill Defeated Pt 1
I'm Bob Larson. After a week in which Republicans spent countless hours and numerous meetings trying to cobble together an immigration bill addressing DACA, border security issues, AND the Ag Labor crisis, the bill goes down to defeat in a House vote Wednesday.
The GOP was split in the 301-to-121 vote against the bill that, as it turned out, had NO provisions for the ag labor issues ...
NEWHOUSE ... "In the end though, according to the work that our WHIP did, the vote count still was not there so it was decided not to include that language. But, the good thing is, is that the Speaker and the Majority Leaders have repeated their commitment to me that we will have a vote on an Ag seasonal labor bill before the August resources and so I think we have a great foundation from which to work on that and I'm looking forward to working as hard as I can to make sure that we get that done."
The bill's co-sponsor, Representative Dan Newhouse says the compromise bill checked off on nearly everyone's wish list ...
NEWHOUSE ... "It gave the President the things that he said he wanted, particularly for border security. So, people that are supporters of President Trump had a huge reason to vote yes on this today. And then, for people that think we need to provide certainty to the Dreamers or the people we call DACA recipients, it gave them a path that they so desperately have been wanting, a path of certainty that could result in citizenship."
Newhouse says he and other Republicans will continue working on a stand-alone bill aimed at ag labor.
Listen tomorrow for more on this disappointing vote and the road ahead.
