Sen. Ted Cruz expressed frustration Wednesday at he what he called the Democrats' premature push to get the immigration reform bill passed by trying to pressure undecided Republicans, saying it won't pass the House even if it does get through the Senate.
"There are 20 Republican senators who are waffling on the fence, and the Gang of Eight is going on TV bragging that they think they can get 70 votes in the Senate and use that to bludgeon the House of Representatives," the Texas Republican told a tea party crowd that came to Capitol Hill to rally against the bill.
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"The Democrats are all behaving as a partisan block, and you've got a lot of Republicans who are listening to the political consultants in D.C.," added Cruz, who was elected last year with strong tea party support.
Cruz also
expressed frustration to Politico about the lack of balance between Democratic and Republican proposals in the Senate bill.
"The Gang of Eight's bill provides immediate legalization, and then possibly, maybe some border security sometime in the future," he told Politico. "The Gang of Eight bill is utterly toothless with regard to securing the border."
He seemed to agree with House Republicans who say the Senate bill will be "dead on arrival" when it hits that chamber.
"They've got the votes to pass and force this thing through the Senate, but as currently written this bill will not pass the House," he added. "If the objective is to fix the problem, the Democrats have to be willing to compromise."
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