Discharge Petition: Why It Needs to be Stopped



FAIR President, Dan Stein, and RJ Hauman, FAIR’s Director of Government Relations, discuss the discharge petition, and what the American voters can do to stop it.

Dan: So it doesn’t really matter what the four bills are, because the Democrats are all going to vote for one big amnesty.

RJ: That’s correct. This is being sold to House Conservatives as a way to secure a vote on the Goodlatte bill.

Dan: [Comments coming in on Facebook] Robert wants to know who the key Republicans are that are pushing this rogue effort to try to ensure Republicans lose the house in 2018.

RJ: Well, the discharge petition [has been]filed by Congressman Curbelo.

DAN: He’s from Florida.

RJ: Of course, the usual suspects here.

DAN: Curbelo, C-U-R-B-E-L-O

RJ: These are the usual House Republicans — Curbelo, Hurd, Denham — [that are]always behind something like this.

 

DAN: The whole list is on our website right now if you want to know who those Republicans are [that have]already signed–about 17 of them.

RJ: Yes, absolutely and again the whole thing is, numbers don’t lie here. We know that the Democrats are in united support for one of these proposals. All 193 Democrats will vote for the DREAM Act, which would be the third bill considered under the “Queen of the Hill” proposal. You also have about six House Republicans that support [this]legislation as well. But listen, under this scenario, you have Republicans that really want that DREAM Act amnesty.

Although [they may]vote for the Goodlatte bill — trying to give them[selves]a little political cover — they’ll then go down and vote for the DREAM Act. We’ve crunched the numbers.

DAN: So they’re going take all these tough votes, they’re going to be claiming that they voted for the Goodlatte bill, for E-verify, for interior enforcement and all is good…

RJ: …but they’ll also vote for the DREAM Act.

DAN: …knowing that the only bill that would ever come up in the Senate is just the amnesty act.

RJ:  Correct.

DAN: So they’re going to try to fool everybody by claiming they voted for these tough [bills].

RJ: Right. We have tracked the possible outcomes. We’ve talked to everybody. We’ve looked at the numbers.  The bill that has the best chance of emerging here is the DREAM Act.

DAN: Probably the only [bill that has a]chance.”

RJ: You’re right. The DREAM Act has been around for a while [and]it’s been rejected numerous times over. But this year’s DREAM Act — or this Congress’s DREAM Act — is worse than Dream Acts of years past. We estimate that — and this isn’t a ceiling this is the actual floor — about 3.5 million illegal aliens would be eligible. You’d have people be able to age into eligibility…

Dan: …plus their relatives…

RJ: …plus their relatives, and they could sponsor [others].

Dan: So why would there be Republicans who would buck the party leadership and the President to do this?

RJ: Because they’re beholden to illegal immigrants and the Open borders Amnesty Lobby, plain and simple.

Dan: [They’re] going to pay, because the leadership won’t give [them]any kind of a committee chairmanship or anything else after this.

RJ: Well, the only hope right now is for leadership to do that. Obviously, Speaker Ryan is in a weird, unique situation. His power isn’t what it used to be since he is outgoing. People are more likely to buck Speaker Ryan and House leadership because they know he’s on the way out.

Dan: [Another comment coming in] Kelly Field says “I thought Republicans controlled the House and Senate—-what’s going on?”

RJ: They do, they do, but you know what? Democrats are always in lockstep on issues like this, and you have Republicans who would rather join with the Democrats and buck the majority of their party and the American people who sent them to Washington. It’s simply ridiculous. This is something only Republicans do.

Dan: So in a nutshell, what do people have to tell their members of Congress?

RJ: It’s this simple: You have to call your member of Congress and tell them not to sign Congressman Curbelo’s discharge petition that would force a vote on Congressman Jeff Denham’s Queen of the Hill resolution– and again — you have to make the points, too.

Dan: Where can they find that exact language?

RJ: FAIR will be coming out with an alert very soon, and a lot of materials will be coming across our social media channels and on our website, as well. So be on the lookout for that, just say you oppose this discharge petition – do not sign it . If your member of Congress has already signed it, urge them to withdraw their name — but also make the point that you are opposed to any kind of amnesty. Amnesty should not be the priority of Congress right now. Congress has failed to deliver on pretty much every key promise that President Trump campaigned on.

Dan: Failure, failure, failure

RJ: Failure after failure

Dan: [Another comment] Corrina says “Call your Representative! This is dangerous!”

RJ: This is dangerous. This is dangerous, and I want to make this clear: we’re at 17 Republicans. Just eight more, and then all the Democrats come aboard and these [bills]get voted on. I mean, this is red-alert level right here — red alert level. You’ve got to do this today. You’ve got to do this now.

Dan: RJ’s got to get back to man the boards and get back on [Capitol] Hill.

We’re fighting this thing as hard as we can. This could be catastrophic and put the President in a very difficult position. All I’ve got to say is, thank you for listening. Go back to your phone. All the information will be on our website. Action Alerts are going out now. You know, I don’t think that Diamond and Silk have anything on RJ and Dan.

Thank you for joining us.

About Author

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Dan is the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)'s President after joining the organization in 1982. He has testified more than 50 times before Congress, and been cited in the media as "America's best-known immigration reformer." Dan has appeared on virtually every significant TV and radio news/talk program in America and, in addition to being a contributing editor to ImmigrationReform.com, has contributed commentaries to a vast number of print media outlets.

4 Comments

  1. avatar

    It’s going to be a little tough this fall for the Democrats to claim they are for enforcement when they have the deputy chairman of the party running around wearing a t-shirt saying “I don’t believe in borders”. They have a plan to put forth candidates as moderates but when all the dust settles, the same amnesty loving, mass immigration advocates like Pelosi and Schumer will still be calling the shots. One of the party leaders, Steny Hoyer, called a House primary candidate in Colorado, she recorded it and he didn’t know, and he wanted her to withdraw from the primary so the supposedly more centrist candidate would be the nominee. More manipulation, just like they did with Hillary vs. Bernie.

    CBS Sunday Morning was doing their propaganda this morning. They noted waves of immigrants to England in the past and pointed out the Irish and European Jews, and implied modern immigrants are no different. Actually, Ireland was not a separate country until the 20th century, being part of Great Britain. Any immigration was internal.

    There is a world of difference between accepting people from the same European societies and the situation now. Most Muslim immigrants have no interest in integrating. They think Islamic culture and Sharia law should replace British culture.

  2. avatar

    Hi Dan

    I’d sum it up for the American voter. We’re sick of endless immigration bills and no enforcement of laws already on the books….its gone on for decades now…

    Why can’t we just obey the immigration enforcement laws that already exist? EVerify tracks identity fraud, its already on the books to prevent this crime and why does it need a bill? Just because?

    • avatar
      John Campbell on

      E-Verify is voluntary. The Goodlatte bill would make it mandatory so that all employers would have to use it to verify that they are hiring someone legally able to work in the US. It MUST have no carve outs for smaller businesses, as they are the ones that hire 90 percent of illegals, and the penalties for hiring an illegal must be high enough to serve as a deterrent.

      • avatar

        Identity Fraud Law Enforcement Isn’t Voluntary

        EVerify, FBI Probe, whatever works. But at the heart of eVerify is what must be mandatory done now.