Issued June 19, 2014
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Republican members of the House made Congressman Kevin McCarthy their new House Majority Leader. The Service Employees International Union's (SEIU) Executive Vice President Rocio Saenz issued the following statement:
"While Congressman Kevin McCarthy steps into his new role, he has the ability to help lead the House towards commonsense immigration reform or cater to the extremists in his party. The choice is a dire one for the new leadership, and could lead to the Republican Party being shut out of the White House for generations.
"We welcome the opportunity for the Republicans in Congress to focus on doing their job for the American people by fixing our broken immigration system. Otherwise, failure to do so would mean a missed opportunity to enact a much needed reform to end the daily family breakup and economic pain that flows from our wounded immigration system."
"GOP leadership in the House must forgo all the excuses and move on immigration reform before the end of July. The American public has long waited for action on the issue, but instead has only heard the fumbling of pretexts for further delay--what now has become the MO of House Republicans.
"Rep. McCarthy can break the GOP mold of a do-nothing Congress and score with his constituents and the fastest-growing bloc of voters--Latino voters--if he simply demonstrates true leadership and brings immigration reform to a vote, regardless of the process or approach.
"If he chooses to side with the extremists in his party, he will drag his party to a costly failure to be witnessed in electoral cycles to come, 2014 and beyond, from Colorado to North Carolina.
"Simply put, if Mr. McCarthy and his GOP colleagues care for their party's legacy and our country's future, they will do right by the American public - not the minority of extremists - and pass immigration reform already."
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