By Erin Kelly | The Arizona Republic
A sense of urgency permeated the Senate’s first immigration-reform hearing of the 113th Congress on Wednesday as lawmakers and Obama administration officials said they see a rare chance for compromise on a divisive issue.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the United States is “at a unique moment in history” with a real chance to pass immigration reform in this session of Congress.
“For the first time in recent memory, we are seeing a bipartisan consensus emerge about what those common- sense steps should be,” Napolitano said. “We must not miss this opportunity.”
President Barack Obama, in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, urged lawmakers to pass a bill he can sign into law. Senate Republicans have expressed willingness to tackle the issue as a way to reach out to Latino voters, who overwhelming supported Obama and Democratic congressional candidates in last fall’s election.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the committee’s chairman, said he is determined that the panel will vote on legislation this spring. If the committee is able to advance a bill, the legislation will then go to the full Senate for a vote.
No legislation has been introduced, but two Democrats and two Republicans on the committee are among a bipartisan group of eight senators working on a compromise bill that includes stronger border security and an earned pathway to citizenship for the 11million illegal immigrants living in the United States.
Also: Immigration reform barriers crumbling
Janet Napolitano’s Political Future ][VIDEO]
If you’d like to discuss immigration matters, Brian Bergin, bbergin@roselawgroup.com
