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Schumer Fills Kennedy’s Big Shoes
By Tanya Snyder, Reporter | Capitol News Connection
www.twitter.com/PowerBreakfast
Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is emerging as a top leader for immigration reform. When Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) fell ill and withdrew from chairmanship of the Immigration Subcommittee in the Senate, immigration advocates wondered if Schumer would be able to fill his shoes.
They’ve been pleasantly surprised. At a speech to the Migration Policy Institute’s conference the day before the long-awaited meeting between Congressmembers and the White House on immigration reform, Schumer said:
“When the President asks me whether we can pass comprehensive immigration reform this Congress, I will smile and say, ‘Mr. President, yes we can.’ All of the fundamental building blocks are in place to pass comprehensive immigration reform this session and, even possibly, later this year…If I did not believe we could accomplish immigration reform this year, I would never have chosen to accept the Immigration Subcommittee post. Committees of inaction and legislative backwaters are not places in which I thrive.”
A reliable source says that before the White House meeting, Schumer told Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), who heads up the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ efforts on immigration, to tell Obama “you’re with me.” Gutierrez was taken aback, thinking to himself, “hey, I’m the champion of immigration reform around here!” But after Schumer was done saying his piece at the White House, Gutierrez was so impressed by his clear and powerful statement, when it was his turn, he said, “I’m with Schumer!”
For more immigration coverage, visit Capitol News Connection.
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