WASHINGTON — Speaker of the House John Boehner affirmed Thursday that he would not rush to pass immigration reform bills before the House leaves for August recess.
“I’m much more concerned with doing it right than I am about meeting some deadline,” he said at a Thursday press conference.
Boehner described his approach to moving something forward as “methodical.” Republican leaders have not yet mapped out a clear plan to move forward on the issue.
The Speaker was clear that he felt something needed to be done to deal with the “cumbersome” immigration system that is now in place.
“I made a strong case yesterday that it needs to be fixed, and Republicans should be part of the solution,” he said.
But Democrats also need to be a part of the process if anything is going to get done, Boehner said.
“I was encouraged by the comments in the meeting we had with our members yesterday, but it’s going to take some bipartisan cooperation to move this process along,” he said.
As to whether he would get that cooperation, Boehner was less sure.
“I don’t know,” he said, when asked. “I don’t know.”