Posted on 06/14/2013 10:46:41 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who helped draft the immigration reform bill currently being discussed in the Senate, says he will walk away from the negotiations if it includes a controversial amendment to provide immigration benefits for gay couples.
"If this bill has in it something that gives gay couples immigration rights and so forth, it kills the bill. I'm done," said Rubio during an interview on the Andrea Tantaros Show on Thursday. "I'm off it, and I've said that repeatedly. I don't think that's going to happen and it shouldn't happen. This is already a difficult enough issue as it is."
On Tuesday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) decided to file the amendment that would allow gay couples to sponsor green cards for their foreign partners as part of the immigration reform bill.
He was forced to withdraw the measure last month when several Democrats told him they would oppose it if it threatened the overall passage of the bill.
In filing the measure that has little chance of passing on the Senate floor, however, Leahy declared that the fight for equality was the right thing to do.
"Seeking equal protection under our laws for the LGBT community is the right thing to do," he said in a statement. "I withheld my anti-discrimination amendment during the Senate Judiciary Committee markup. As the entire Senate turns to debate the immigration bill, the fight for equality must go on."
While he supports same-sex marriages, left-leaning evangelical leader Jim Wallis, agreed last month that entangling gay rights issues in the immigration reform discussion is a bad idea.
"I support equal protection under the law but I think this is the wrong place in the wrong time to try and resolve this contentious issue. This must be a bipartisan bill. Our focus must be on the 11 million undocumented and vulnerable people who this is their time, their chance, this is their moment," said Wallis, president and CEO of Sojourners.
The amendment is expected to face a much more difficult road in passing on the Senate floor than it would have faced in the committee.
Passing the measure in the committee only required a simple majority. On the Senate floor, however, it is likely to require 60 votes.
During the debate of the measure in the committee last month, Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), a gang of eight member who helped craft the bill, noted: "You've got me on immigration. You don't have me on marriage. If you want to keep me on immigration, let's stay on immigration."
In his remarks, another gang of eight member, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), noted during the same debate: "As much as it pains me, I cannot support this amendment if it will bring down the bill."
A Supreme Court ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act expected later this month could enable gay couples to petition green cards for their foreign partners.
Done? That train left the station as soon as you voted to put this monstrosity in play sans border controls.
This is a total distraction. He and his fellow libs are making this about the amendment and then they will pull it and pass it and say “Republicans won”.
disgusting
Perhaps we should be lobbying FOR this amendment then??? That’s easily one of the least objectionable things about this monstrosity. If all it takes to get the RINOs off of this is the gay issue, then conservative Senators should let it in.
Thanks for allowing me to explain. This amendment was first introduced in the committee marking up the bill and was withdrawn because democrats recognized that, while it appealed to a small number of their core constituency, it certainly did not help with the larger majority. It is being introduced now as a distraction with the expectation that it will be defeated but that the people who oppose it will be labeled as being intolerant. If the Republicans call their bluff and refuse to be baited, the Democrats must either withdraw the amendment and offend their gay constituency or pass it and put their vulnerable members in jeopardy with the large number of voters who certainly don't support the gay agenda.
Remember, the amendment is only a change in the proposed law and doesn't mean anything unless the overall bill is enacted. In the event the bill passes the Senate, it would have virtually no chance in the House if this amendment is included. This is a classic poison pill and it would be poetic justice if the Democrats did it to themselves. The fact that Oboma might preen before his gay supporters means nothing if the bill itself can be defeated.
Hmmmmm.
At least he draws a line somewhere.
....is this guy for real?
Never trust a man who trusts Schumer. Rubio is toast.
The bill is poison as is, so I hope they pass that amendment in the Senate. This is a win/win. It’s time for the GOP to go after the urban black vote anyway.
They started as Republicans and it’s through manipulation and a the mendacity of the media that they joined the Slavery Party.
How about vouchers, jobs and self defense as an outreach foundation?
Look no further than who he hired to be his chief of staff.
On Tuesday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) decided to file the amendment... He was forced to withdraw the measure last month when several Democrats told him they would oppose it if it threatened the overall passage of the bill... little chance of passing on the Senate floor, however, Leahy declared that the fight for equality was the right thing to do... While he supports same-sex marriages, left-leaning evangelical leader Jim Wallis, agreed last month that entangling gay rights issues in the immigration reform discussion is a bad idea... last month, Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), a gang of eight member who helped craft the bill, noted: "You've got me on immigration. You don't have me on marriage. If you want to keep me on immigration, let's stay on immigration." In his remarks, another gang of eight member, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), noted during the same debate: "As much as it pains me, I cannot support this amendment if it will bring down the bill." ...could enable gay couples to petition green cards for their foreign partners.This is a masterpiece of having your cake and eating it too, perhaps on both sides of the aisle. The bill is not going to pass, just as the gun control crap didn't pass, and in the 2014 election campaign, the Pubbies aren't going to be culpable for so-called gridlock.
If he were a girl, he would be called a d**k tease.
What makes Rubio a unique politician is not that he speaks out of both sides of his mouth is that he does it in two different languages!
You’re done, Marco.
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