Gowdy: House won’t take Schumer’s advice on immigration reform

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) on Sunday said that the Senate immigration bill passed last week was a non-starter, rejecting Sen. Charles Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) claim that the House would have to take up the Gang of Eight proposal.  

“We’re going to not take his advice. The Senate bill is not going to pass in the House for a myriad of reasons,” Gowdy said on Fox News Sunday.

{mosads}Gowdy spoke after Schumer suggested the House would adopt the Senate reform bill because of the potential electoral implications of failure for the GOP.

Gowdy though said in the border control provisions of the Senate bill in particular were unacceptable to his constituents.

Instead, he said the House will continue to move forward with a piecemeal approach, passing smaller bills out of the House Judiciary Committee to deal with specific aspects of reform.

“I support immigration reform, I think the current system is broken, but our founders gave us two legislative bodies and I assume they gave it to us for a reason.

The Senate passed an immigration reform package last week on a 68-32 vote, but its future in the House remains uncertain. Conservatives are refusing to support the bill because they believe it has inadequate border control provisions and because they are opposed to a pathway to citizenship.