McCain and Kyl: House Leaders Wanted to Steal Credit for Border Security
Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl accused the House of trying to take credit for border security after the chamber passed an identical version of the Senate’s border security bill this morning. The $600 bill was re-started in the House to deal with a rule that revenue measures must originate there.
In a joint statement, the Republican senators made no mention of the House leadership’s concerns about jurisdiction rules, instead accusing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of playing politics with the bill:
“„“The refusal of Speaker Nancy Pelosi to take up and pass the Senate’s fully paid for $600 million border security bill is another example of politics trumping policy. Today, the Democrats have made it clear that once again they are more interested in scoring political points than actually taking steps to pass strong policy and secure the border. The only difference between the Senate-passed bill and what the House passed today was the substitution of the words ‘House bill’ for ‘Senate bill.’ It raises the question whether House Democrats want the result or the credit. [...]
“„“We call on Senator Reid to end this game of ‘political ping pong’ and immediately bring the Senate back into session to approve this legislation and send it to the President’s desk. There is no reason $600 million dollars for border security should be sidelined through the month of August simply because of political games. Arizonans and others living on the border deserve better – for some it’s a matter of life and death.”
The Senate is unlikely to return for a special session to address the bill: A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told CQ the Senate will probably act on the bill after senators return from recess Sept. 13.
