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Another immigration obstacle

Senate version of controversial bill hits constitutional 'glitch,' but White House gives assurance it's fixable

BY TOM BRUNE | Newsday Washington Bureau

June 3, 2006

WASHINGTON - The prospect for enacting immigration reform legislation this year has run into yet another hurdle - a procedural glitch being raised by the House.

The glitch could be just another bump in the road, some legislative aides said Friday, or it could be a deal-breaker.

Tamar Jacoby, an immigration expert and a backer of the Senate bill, said, "It's too soon to be tripped up by a hangnail." Yet the constitutional glitch launched another round of finger-pointing by Democrats and Republicans as they prepare to return Monday from a week-long recess.

And it underscores House Republicans' opposition to the Senate bill because it includes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, which hard-liners criticize as "amnesty."

The House is crying foul because the Senate's bill requires illegal immigrants seeking citizenship to pay back taxes, which the House considers a revenue-raising measure.

The Constitution, the House points out, says that "all bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House."

As a result, the Senate bill passed a week ago cannot even be considered in the House until congressional leaders find a way to work around this issue, said Republican House and Senate aides.

The glitch has even stymied the announcement of conference committee members who will try to reconcile the House bill, which provides only for tougher border security and interior enforcement, and the more comprehensive Senate legislation, the aides said.

The White House, which backs the Senate version, is not worried. "We think it's resolvable," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

Democrats said there is no real problem - the primary purpose of the bill is not to raise revenue.

"It has no revenue impact," said Jim Manly, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). "The way we resolve this issue is simply to do nothing and allow it to go into conference."

Republicans insist that the Senate bill is unconstitutional, a problem that can't be ignored.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has offered a solution: add the immigration bill to a House tax bill already on the floor, an aide said. The House would vote on that bill and send it to conference, where immigration could be separated from the tax bill.

But Reid has refused to agree to this maneuver. Manly blamed the Republicans.

"They've known about this for weeks," Manly said. "Hopefully we can work something out next week."

Jacoby, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, said, "This could be the House's way of saying, 'We don't want to touch this.'"

But she added, "I'd be extremely surprised if people let this get hung up on a technicality."