GOP congressman: Immigration reform can happen in 2014

A key House Republican said that if Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) secures several legislative wins early next year, an immigration bill could clear the lower chamber by next summer.

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) was careful to say that the battles ahead for Congress and the White House — such as raising the debt ceiling —  could shape whether the House acts on immigration reform in early 2014. Cole serves as a deputy whip on Boehner’s leadership team.

{mosads}With the caveat that the House will not vote on the Senate-passed bill, Cole envisions a situation where Boehner allows a vote on a couple or all of the four-House-Judiciary Committee-passed measures on immigration reform/border security.

Noting that Boehner has made it “abundantly clear” that he’d like to move immigration bills, Cole said that “we just saw a budget deal that made progress that brought people together from both sides from very different perspectives and I suspect that can be done on immigration as well.”