It appears that immigration reform or any controversial issue will be placed on the back shelf for a long time, especially since these are the issues that won’t win re-election. What? You mean addressing the topic of illegal immigration won’t win re-election…at least, that is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s logic. Pelosi promised her fellow Democrats in the House that they will not address controversial issues unless the Senate acts first. When Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) introduced an immigration bill recently, Pelosi wouldn’t allow the chance for this bill to be heard. It seems to me that Pelosi is more focused on protecting her precious Speaker of the House position, don’t you think?
Ruben Navarette addressed this issue in a recent Real Clear Politics article, where he took Pelosi and Virginia’s own Gerry Connolly to task on their avoidance of addressing illegal immigration. Connolly hailed Pelosi for her stances on avoiding the controversial issues, such as immigration reform.
The Hill quoted Rep. Gerry Connolly, president of the freshman class of representatives, as being in agreement with Pelosi’s abdication of leadership. Connolly said that “freshmen, particularly, are not enamored of the idea of being asked to walk the plank” on a controversial issue such as immigration reform.
Of course, we know Connolly has never seriously addressed immigration reform, especially while he was Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. In fact, he chided Prince William County Chairman Corey Stewart on the way he handled illegal immigration. To date, Stewart’s reforms have been successful.
If Connolly is speaking on behalf of the freshman class, I wonder what Tom Perriello and Glenn Nye must be thinking about Pelosi’s decision to avoid controversy to win elections. We, the People, elected our Congressional representatives to advocate and work on our behalf addressing issues of importance, albeit controversial or not. Perhaps, it is time to send representation to Washington that will not be afraid to address both controversial and basic issues with common sense.
