移民法改革提案有望繞過共和黨

移民法改革提案有望繞過共和黨

WASHINGTON — Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, offered a long-shot option on Thursday to revive the moribund effort to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws that would require the support of more than a dozen House Republicans — and, if nothing else, pressure others to act on an election-year issue that Tea Party-aligned members strongly oppose.

華盛頓——周四，來自紐約州的民主黨參議員查爾斯·E·舒默(Charles E. Schumer)提出了一種希望渺茫的選擇，以求重啟陷入停滯的全面改革移民法的努力。這種選擇將需要獲得至少十幾位共和黨眾議員的支持，而且最起碼還要敦促其他人在一個親茶黨議員強烈反對的選舉年議題上有所作為。

The legislative maneuver, known as a discharge petition, would allow supporters of overhauling the nation’s immigration laws to circumvent the Republican majority in the House by bringing the measure directly to the House floor, bypassing the regular committee process. It is a rarely successful tactic, though it was used in 2002 to eventually win passage of a major campaign finance law.

這項立法策略名為“放行請愿”，可以讓支持改革美國移民法的人避開由共和黨把持的眾議院多數(shù)黨優(yōu)勢，將提案直接拿去全會討論投票，從而繞過正常的委員會程序。這種戰(zhàn)術(shù)鮮有成功的先例，不過曾在2002年被用來最終通過了一項重大的競選資金法案。

Mr. Schumer, who was one of the architects of a broad-based rewriting of immigration laws that passed the Senate in June, accused House Republicans of trying to “sweep this issue under the rug,” and added, “In the next few months you’re going to see increased pressure, and the discharge petition is one such way.”

舒默參與策劃了參議院去年6月通過的移民法全面改革提案。他指責共和黨眾議員試圖“將問題掃到地毯下面”，并且宣稱，“在接下來的幾個月里，你們會看到壓力增大，而放行請愿就是增壓的一種方式。”

Lawmakers and aides in both parties say that a discharge petition, especially one coming from Mr. Schumer, whose views are strongly opposed by many House conservatives, is unlikely to succeed. Even if all House Democrats supported the measure, it would still require more than a dozen Republican signatures.

兩黨議員及幕僚均表示，放行請愿不太可能成功，尤其是來自舒默的請愿，因為他的觀點遭到眾多保守派眾議員的強烈反對。就算此舉受到全體民主黨眾議員的支持，仍需至少十幾名共和黨人的簽名。

“This scheme has zero chance of success. A clear majority in the House understands that the massive Senate-passed bill is deeply flawed,” said Michael Steel, a spokesman for Speaker John A. Boehner. “That’s why we will continue to work on step-by-step, common-sense reform.”

“這種伎倆成功的可能性為零。眾議院的明顯多數(shù)認為，參議院通過的議案存在重大瑕疵，”眾議院議長約翰·A·博納(ohn A. Boehner)的發(fā)言人邁克爾·斯蒂爾(Michael Steel)說。“正因為如此，我們將繼續(xù)致力于符合常識的、一步一個腳印的改革。”

Mr. Boehner, who had offered a set of principles to his caucus to try to advance immigration legislation at a recent retreat, all but conceded a week later that the measure was dead this year.

不久前，博納在休假地向麾下的議員提出了推進移民立法的一套準則。然而，一周后，他卻承認，今年通過相關(guān)法案的希望已化為泡影。

The Senate bill included a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the country, and House Republicans have largely dismissed it as “amnesty.” They prefer to take on the issue in a piecemeal approach through a series of narrower bills.

參議院通過的議案中，包含為已身處美國的1100萬非法移民提供入籍途徑的內(nèi)容，而共和黨眾議員已經(jīng)基本上將其貶為“大赦”。在移民議題上，他們更為青睞的方式是通過一系列范圍較小的提案去零敲碎打。

But Mr. Schumer’s strategy accomplishes an important goal of Democrats and immigration advocates: It keeps the pressure on Mr. Boehner and his fellow Republicans to move forward on at least some sort of an immigration overhaul, and serves as a cudgel for Democrats, especially looking toward the 2016 presidential elections.

不過，舒默的策略達成了民主黨人及移民問題倡導人士的重大目標：它保持了施加在博納及其共和黨同儕身上的壓力，督促他們多少推進一點移民改革;它還充當了民主黨人的一件武器，尤其是著眼于2016年的總統(tǒng)大選。

Even those who would support the discharge petition, or at least the idea of passing broad immigration legislation, privately acknowledge it is more about a tactical political advantage than a viable legislative option.

就連那些可能支持放行請愿，或者至少是支持通過全面移民法改革理念的人，也在私下里承認，提出這種想法多半是為了獲得策略上的政治優(yōu)勢，而非將其當作可行的立法選擇。

“Discharge petitions are difficult, but when they work, it’s because there’s a clear majority of the body that supports a specific proposal, and in this case, that is true,” Mr. Schumer said. “But I have no illusions that this will be easy in any way.”

“放行請愿殊為不易，但是，它奏效的時候，是因為立法機構(gòu)的明顯多數(shù)支持某項提案，而在這件事情上，事實的確如此，”舒默說。“但我不會心存幻想，以為這件事會多么輕松。”

J. Dennis Hastert, Republican of Illinois who was speaker the last time a discharge petition succeeded, was critical of the tactic. “I have always been an advocate of regular order,” Hastert said. “Discharges, I believe, lead to poor results.”

放行請愿上次成功，要追溯到來自伊利諾伊州的共和黨人J·丹尼斯·哈斯泰特(J. Dennis Hastert)擔任眾議院議長期間。他本人對此策略持批評態(tài)度。“我始終倡導常規(guī)程序，”哈斯泰特說。“放行的話，我認為，會導致糟糕的結(jié)局。”

Coming on the heels of a “clean” debt ceiling vote this week, which Mr. Boehner put on the House floor on Tuesday knowing it would pass only with a majority of Democratic votes, Mr. Schumer’s suggestion also serves as a test of just how far Mr. Boehner is willing to push his conference and buck outside conservative activists. Mr. Boehner has already, six times in the past 14 months, violated the unofficial House Republican credo that legislation should pass the House only with a majority of the majority, and a discharge could potentially provide him the opportunity to do so on immigration.

本周二，博納將提高舉債上限的“干凈”提案訴諸投票，明知它能通過的唯一途徑是借助民主黨內(nèi)的多數(shù)票。舒默緊隨此事提出的建議，同樣是對博納的一種測試，看他究竟愿意在多大程度上來推動麾下的共和黨人，來抵擋外圍的保守派活動人士。在過去的14個月中，博納已六次違反共和黨在眾議院的非正式原則，也就是眾議院只應通過擁有多數(shù)黨中多數(shù)人支持的議案。放行請愿或許會給他提供一個在移民問題上再次逆原則行事的機會。

Yet that option remains highly unlikely. Representative Charlie Dent, a Republican moderate from Pennsylvania and a supporter of moving forward on immigration, said a discharge petition has “zero” chance of accumulating the Republican signatures it would need. Even Republicans like him, who favor action, would not sign on to a petition requesting consideration of the Senate-passed bill, because they do not support it on policy grounds.

然而，放行請愿的選項仍是極為不現(xiàn)實的。賓夕法尼亞州的共和黨溫和派眾議員查利·登特(Charlie Dent)支持推進移民改革。他表示，放行請愿攢出所需的共和黨人簽名數(shù)的可能性為“零”。就連他這種傾向于有所行動的共和黨人，也不會在要求考慮參議院已通過提案的請愿書上簽字，因為他們與這份提案存在政策上的分歧。

During the 16-day government shutdown in October, Democrats circulated a discharge petition to reopen the government — a maneuver that was seen as far more urgent and, in theory, had far more support. But Republicans refused to sign, said Mr. Dent, who led the House Republicans trying to end the shutdown.

去年10月，政府停擺了16天。在此期間，民主黨人傳閱了一份重開政府的放行請愿書。那個舉動被認為比現(xiàn)在要迫切得多，而且在理論上也擁有多得多的支持。然而，在眾議院牽頭嘗試終止關(guān)門的登特表示，共和黨人當時拒絕簽署。

Now, the same Republicans who support action on immigration would not betray Mr. Boehner. “It means you’re putting a thumb in the eye of the speaker, not just in this issue but any issue,” Mr. Dent said. “You’re essentially handing control of the floor to the minority party.”

現(xiàn)在，同樣這批提倡在移民問題上有所作為的共和黨不會選擇背叛博納。“那樣做是戳議長的眼窩子，不光是關(guān)系到這一個問題，而是事關(guān)全局，”登特說。“你這實際上是把眾議院的控制權(quán)拱手送給少數(shù)黨。”

The speaker’s decision this week to put a debt ceiling increase to a vote without preconditions was meant to get past a divisive issue so Republicans could regain their focus on the issues that unite them, especially opposition to President Obama’s health care law. It was “pulling the bandage from the scab and doing it fast,” Mr. Dent said, adding that Republicans were not about to do the same thing with immigration anytime soon.

博納議長本周決定，將不帶前提條件的提高舉債上限議案付諸投票。此舉意在將一個造成分歧的議題拋諸腦后，以使共和黨人重新聚合到團結(jié)眾人的問題上，尤其是反對奧巴馬總統(tǒng)的醫(yī)保法案。這是“從瘡疤上一把扯下繃帶，長痛不如短痛，”登特說。他還表示，共和黨近期不會在移民問題上如法炮制。