Durbin said the “gang of eight” is working to find a bipartisan solution to the complex issue of immigration policy and may have a package in the coming weeks.
A delay in finishing work on a comprehensive immigration overhaul could threaten the recent momentum for Congress to take on the issue.
A bipartisan group of eight senators has been working since January on a bill, and they expect to unveil their package the week of April 8.
But the group has come under criticism recently from prominent Democrats and Republicans — including Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., and ranking member Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa — as well as advocates of immigration policy changes. The complaints range from the group’s decision to craft the bill behind closed doors to the failure of the eight to release their proposal in March, as they had previously pledged.
And even though members of the “gang of eight” say they are on track to release a bill in two weeks, their public pronouncements are more hopeful than definitive.
Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., a member of the immigration group, stressed that it’s a complex issue and it has taken time to find a bipartisan solution.
“I think most of our colleagues understand the complexity of this challenge,” Durbin said. “This is not a matter that you can just put together a bill, put it in a committee and expect it to be reported out.”
Durbin added, “We are still working on the measure and we are hoping to come to an agreement on most parts of it before we leave [for recess] and when we return, if everything works well, we’ll be able to announce a bill.”
A major immigration rally on the West Front of the Capitol is planned for April 10, and the Senate group may want to present its measure before that.
Taking too long to draft a measure or get the bill to the floor could threaten its support — particularly among the Republicans needed to pass it — by giving opponents time to find flaws with the package or the process.
Durbin said members of the group hope to talk to Leahy, who said in a statement Wednesday that he believes the Judiciary Committee will not be able to take up the measure until May, because of the group of eight’s failure to unveil it in March.
Lois Lerner, director of exempt organizations for the IRS, arrives for a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the investigation of the IRS' targeting of political groups. Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment right to not testify and caused a protest from some committee members when she offered an opening statement and engaged in dialogue with members before invoking the right.
Roll Call has launched a new feature, Hill Navigator, to advise congressional staffers and would-be staffers on how to manage workplace issues on Capitol Hill. Please send us your questions — anything from office etiquette, to handling awkward moments, to what happens when the work life gets too personal. Submissions will be treated anonymously.
