https:\/\/www.numbersusa.com\/content\/news\/july-11-2013\/ways-and-means-chair-senate-immigration-bill-unconstitutional-can-t-be-considered-<\/p>\n
Ways and Means Chair: Senate Immigration Bill Unconstitutional, Can\u2019t be Considered in House<\/strong><\/p>\n Thursday, July 11, 2013, 1:35 PM EDT – posted on NumbersUSA<\/p>\n S.744 – Schumer-Rubio-Obama Amnesty Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said the Senate\u2019s comprehensive amnesty bill (S. 744) is unconstitutional because only bills originating in the House can raise revenues. The Senate has not officially transmitted S. 744 to the House yet but Camp\u2019s statement implies he will move to prevent the House from taking up the bill when that occurs.<\/p>\n The U.S. Constitution provides that \u201cAll Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives.\u201d To implement this provision, the House developed a procedure called a \u201cBlue Slip\u201d to kill any revenue-raising bill that originates in the Senate. The House can pass a resolution providing for a blue slip but, as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Camp has the ability to issue one himself. On July 10th the official House and Ways Means Committee Twitter account tweeted \u201cChairman Camp: Senate immigration bill a revenue bill; unconstitutional and cannot be taken up by the House.\u201d<\/p>\n Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Tex.) had been pushing House members to support a blue slip should the Senate transmit S. 744. In a \u201cDear Colleague\u201d letter sent Members, Stockman noted that Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had not sent the bill to the House and concluded that the reason was fear of a blue slip.<\/p>\n Stockman\u2019s letter said, \u201cEven Harry Reid now admits the Senate\u2019s amnesty bill is unconstitutional and cannot become law\u2026By creating their own amnesty taxes Senate Democrats broke the rules. Senate Democrats were so hell-bent on ramming through a gift to radical political activists they didn\u2019t bother to check if it was even legal\u2026.They got caught trying to sneak an illegal bill past the Constitution\u2019s borders.\u201d <\/p>\n Stockman pointed to Section 2102 of the bill, which \u201crequires the payment of certain taxes and forgives the payment of other taxes as a condition of receiving amnesty and other benefits.\u201d The Congressional Budget Office\u2019s assessment of the bill also notes \u201cenacting S. 744 would have a wide range of effects on federal revenues, including changes in collections of income and payroll taxes, certain visa fees that are classified as revenues, and various fines and penalties. Taken together, those effects would increase revenues by $459 billion over the 2014-2023 period, according to estimates by JCT and CBO.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n