Tuesday on the Senate floor, Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) warned Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to keep his promise to take up immigration legislation in return for Democrats ending the government shutdown.
Schumer said, “Now, yesterday the Senate passed a continuing resolution to open the government and provide for a six-year reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The majority leader and I were also able to agree on a path forward for the DACA legislation. The continuing resolution extends government funding until February 8. If an agreement on DACA isn’t reached by February 8, the Senate will immediately proceed to immigration under a neutral process that is fair to all sides. This is the first guarantee that the Republican majority will give the DACA bill a fair consideration and an up-or-down vote on the floor. And it means we can hopefully resolve the fate of the DREAMers much sooner than the March 5 deadline.”
He continued, “So the Republican majority now has 16 days to work with us to write a bill that can get 60 votes and prevent the DREAMers from being deported. The clock is ticking. Sixteen days, that’s not much time. We’ve got to get moving. Leader McConnell, his Republican colleagues, all of us, should hear the countdown clock ticking to protect the DREAMers from deportation. We can get it done. Every Democrat, all 49 of us, supports DACA. The pressure now is on Leader McConnell and the Republican moderate caucus to help find us a solution that protects the 800,000 DREAMers and can pass the Senate.
He added, “Over the weekend a bipartisan group of Senate moderates came together and helped renew the urgency of the immigration debate. After talking to Senator Durbin, it is my understanding that this bipartisan group, which includes several Republican moderates, expressed a sincere desire to protect the DREAMers—more so than before the weekend. Leader McConnell’s promise to consider the DACA recommendation was made just as much to this bipartisan group as it has been made to me. If he does not honor our agreement, it will be a breach of trust, not only with the Democratic senators, but with several members of his own party as well. Democrats will continue to fight as hard as ever for the DREAMers, but I am more hopeful today than last week that we can assemble 60 votes for a DACA bill in the Senate and we now have a real pathway to get such a bill through the Senate.”
(h/t The Hill)
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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