A bipartisan group in the House is also working on legislation, but the package it is crafting is likely to be somewhat different from the Senate version.
Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, D-Ill., a member of the House group, said Sunday on Telemundo’s “Enfoque” that he expects both bills to be unveiled soon.
“I think — though I am not speaking for any group — given what I have heard ... that you could soon see a plan from the Senate and a plan from the House. They will not be identical; they will be different from one another,” Gutierrez said.
He said that there might be things in the House bill that will cause heartburn on the left and the right “but we have to find 218 votes.”
Gutierrez said he thinks the House bill could include a path to citizenship that puts a stop to the deportation of illegal immigrants, preserves worker’s rights, provides the right to travel, and ultimately, the right to keep a family together.
“These things, we think, can be achieved” in legislation, he said.
House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., agreed that the Senate bill may not be the only game in town.
“I wouldn’t underestimate the House’s ability to pass the immigration bill,” McCarthy said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I think we have plenty ideas on that, and I think there’s an opportunity that we can move the ball as well.”
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.
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