Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has floated an idea to get comprehensive immigration reform passed in the U.S. House.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he floated an idea Tuesday in Las Vegas to get comprehensive immigration reform passed in the U.S. House this year.
So far, House Speaker John Boehner has refused to take a vote on it, Reid said.
Reid said the deadline to act is Aug. 1, before Congress takes its end-of-summer break.
“Boehner says the reason they (U.S. House members) won’t pass immigration reform is because he doesn’t trust the President,” Reid said in the telephone conversation.
President Obama's second four-year term ends in late January of 2017.
Reid said it was a workable compromise with Boehner and others in the GOP.
“That (Jan., 2017 effective date) is not my preference but I will go for it,” he said.
Reid said it was the second time he’s floated the idea.
“The first time I said it last week, nobody picked it up,” Reid said. “Now that I’ve said it in Nevada, maybe somebody will pick it up."
Reid’s telephone remarks came after his news conference on immigration reform in Las Vegas with representatives of several Southern Nevada chambers of commerce.
Reid said Boehner is not likely to take him up on his compromise.
Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., earlier said he also thinks immigration reform would pass the U.S. House if it were to get a floor vote.
The U.S. Senate has already passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill which was supported by Heller and Reid.
If the House does not pass immigration reform, the bill must start again at the beginning of the process in 2015, seeking both Senate and House approval.
REID'S PROPOSAL does not change the opinion of Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Carson City. Amodei, Nevada's 2nd U.S. House District representative, consistently has said he does not like aspects of the Senate bill.
For instance, he's critical of the Senate bill's nationwide cap on unskilled labor, which does does not help Nevada's construction and agriculture needs.
"Mark's position is consistent and clear," said spokesman Brian Baluta Tuesday. "He will not sign a discharge petition or favor this deal because he does not support the Senate bill.
"He (Amodei) is committed to regular order in the House, which will be more transparent than the Senate process and have a better chance for long term success," Baluta said. "The elected officials in the House have the same right as the Senate to address this issue. He will continue to work with his House colleagues and leadership to move that process ahead."
Amodei said during a July 2013 interview — soon after the Senate passage of immigration reform — that the Senate version does not do enough for business.
"There are things in the Senate bill, like unskilled labor getting capped at 15,000 nationwide," Amodei said. "Now think about the construction industry in Nevada. But only 15,000 visas for unskilled laborers in a year? That needs additional work. "
Amodei said the unskilled labor cap should start at 50,000 to 70,000 and be able to grow annually. A larger cap would also help Nevada agriculture, Amodei said.
"(Business issues are) one of the things people are not talking about in the national media," Amodei said then. "Some people talk about the human component. Almost nobody talks about the business component. For the IBMs and the IGTs, the tech visa piece is very important, so are the skilled and unskilled labor force in the job market, so the economy grows the kind of jobs you want."
Yet almost a year later nothing has happened in the House — especially not a floor vote.
"It (immigration reform) is a must-do. I cannot stress enough that the status quo won't work for anybody."