NEWS
Florida's Putnam, the House Point Man on Immigration, in Tricky Spot
- By Michael Sandler
- CQ Today
- Sept. 11, 2006
Rep. Adam H. Putnam was tasked last week with assembling a tough border security package that House Republicans hope will provide their party a boost leading up to Election Day.
The Florida Republican will serve the "security first" approach favored by his caucus, organizing a policy forum Tuesday that will generate ideas he will turn into legislative proposals designed to put political pressure on those who favor a broader Senate immigration bill.
But on Wednesday, Putnam will share a platform with some of the very people his House leadership is looking to squeeze: supporters of the other chamber's version of an immigration overhaul.
Putnam has accepted an invitation to join a coalition of business interests and Sen. Larry E. Craig, R-Idaho, at a rally outside the Capitol urging passage of the Senate's "comprehensive" immigration bill this year. The groups Putnam will stand with Wednesday want a guest worker program and a path to citizenship for most of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants now in the country - positions that most of Putnam's GOP House colleagues oppose.
The two events put Putnam in an awkward position: between his leaders, who are backing the policies that, in their view, resonate with voters, and farmers and business owners back home, who depend on immigrant labor and support the Senate bill (S 2611).
Putnam, the Republican Policy Committee chairman, was selected by Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., to shepherd the House border package. But Putnam comes from a family of citrus farmers and cattle ranchers, industries that remain important in his Central Florida district.
His chief of staff said Putnam had committed to the rally before Hastert asked him to chair the immigration hearing and that there is no conflict between his duty to the GOP conference and to his constituents.
Putnam, who has stared down his leadership before on trade issues important to his district, has been clear about his position on immigration.
"He has stated in the past that he generally favors a comprehensive approach, but unfortunately we don't have the time or the political will to accomplish that this year," said John Hambel, Putnam's chief of staff.
"We should have a legitimate guest worker program for those areas where labor is needed. But he believes before you can effectively pass something like that in this Congress and climate, we need to tackle securing our borders."
But the most vocal opponents of illegal immigration see Putnam's role as a cause for concern.
"If the House Republicans are trying to convince America that we are serious about immigration reform, and we believe enforcement-first is the way to go, we are sending a very confusing message by appointing Putnam to anything that touches the issue," said Colorado Republican Tom Tancredo, chairman of the House Immigration Reform Caucus.
Tancredo intends to call Hastert on Tuesday and question his selection of Putnam.
Reporting Back
Tuesday's hearing of the Republican Policy Committee will feature House chairmen and subcommittee chairmen serving as witnesses, reporting back to leadership what they learned during 22 hearings held in 13 states this summer.
Because it is a party policy hearing, not a legislative hearing, Democrats are not invited to participate.
"Essentially, this is another political stunt to avoid participation from Democrats," said Drew Hammill, a spokesman for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
The House passed a bill (HR 4437) on Dec. 16 that focused on immigration enforcement.
Hastert said Sept. 7 what had been obvious for months - that House Republicans will not accept many aspects of the Senate's bill. The policy hearing is designed to sort through comments that House Republicans collected during the summer, then determine a course of action. Hastert said he expects to bring something to the floor in the next three weeks.
Some rank-and-file Republicans would like to see leadership push through a new stand-alone bill, but Hambel said that is unlikely to happen.
Narrower Approach
The more likely outcome is narrow security provisions - money for detention beds, border patrol agents and fencing - that can be added to the conference report accompanying the Homeland Security appropriations bill (HR 5441).
"If [House members] want to make something extremely narrow, that is different, " said Angelo Amador, director of immigration policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which favors the Senate approach.
Amador cautioned, however, that any effort by the House to enact far-reaching immigration enforcement policy changes by attaching them to an appropriations bill, or by moving a separate new authorization bill, would provoke a legislative battle with the Senate.
On that point, Rosemary Jenks, government affairs director for Numbers USA, a grass-roots organization that opposes the Senate's legalization plan, agrees that it is a strong possibility.
"They have fairly narrow parameters in terms of pieces of legislation the House and the Senate have agreed on and things that they can do," Jenks said. "I do think they are looking for options, and hopefully they will get some good input. . . . And it will be interesting to see what Putnam's role in this is. My guess is it will be fairly limited."
The Republican Policy Committee hearing on
immigration is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday in Cannon 210.
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