Senator Blasts Lack of Discussion of Immigration Bill

Only one hearing scheduled

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, faulted Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy, D-Vt., for limiting the committee review of the gang of eight's immigration proposal to just one hearing, scheduled for next week.

"A single hearing scheduled so quickly to discuss legislative language that is not yet even available is completely inadequate for Senators or the American people to get answers to the many questions a bill of this magnitude will inevitably raise," Lee said in a statement. "We could not possibly have a meaningful hearing with a substantive discussion of what will surely be over 1,000 pages of provisions we haven't even yet seen."

Leahy initially told Republicans that he would not allow any hearings on the legislation to take place, but instead rush the bill to the Senate floor within two weeks. Leahy argued that hearings conducted by past Congresses would suffice.