Speaker of the House Paul Ryan announced that he will bring two immigration bills to the floor next week for a vote. The announcement managed to persuade two Republicans not to sign a discharge petition that would have forced several no-strings amnesty votes in the House.
The discharge petition, filed by Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) back in May, needed to obtain three more signatures before the House adjourned on Tuesday. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) signed the petition, but Reps. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) both held off after Ryan's announcement. Both Reps. Ross and Newhouse were being pressured by Rep. Curbelo to sign the petition. The discharge petition could still obtain the necessary signatures, but the earliest it could come to the House floor for a vote would be late-July, under House rules, just before the August recess.
"Members across the Republican Conference have negotiated directly and in good faith with each other for several weeks, and as a result, the House will consider two bills next week that will avert the discharge petition and resolve the border security and immigration issues," AshLee Strong, spokeswoman for House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) stated.
Speaker Ryan will bring two bills to the floor -- Rep. Bob Goodlatte's (R-Va.) H.R. 4760, the Securing America's Future Act, which has been endorsed by NumbersUSA, and a compromise bill worked out between House Leaders and petition signers.
For more information, see The Hill.
