Still no consensus on border plan as Congress hurdles toward summer recess

BY TERENCE BURLIJ, RACHEL WELLFORD AND SIMONE PATHE  July 17, 2014 at 9:14 AM EDT

Congress still searching for consensus on border plan: With Congress closing in on its month-long August recess, time is running out for lawmakers to reach a consensus on legislation to address the flood of unaccompanied minors crossing the southern border from Central America. President Obama is pushing lawmakers to approve a $3.7 billion emergency spending request to deal with the situation at the border. The measure aims to boost funding for additional detention facilities and judges, as well as overtime for border patrol agents. Another proposal from a pair of Texas lawmakers, Republican Sen. John Cornyn and Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, would allow the government to speed up the removal process of the tens of thousands of children who have entered the country. The Obama administration held a briefing for all 100 senators on Wednesday, but the session appeared to do little to resolve the differences between the two parties. Politico reported that “most Democratic senators indicated they wanted a so-called clean supplemental funding measure — meaning with no policy changes attached, which is a key condition of congressional Republicans.” House Republicans, meanwhile, are crafting their own border proposal, which is likely to include increased funding and policy changes. Missouri Rep. Kay Granger, the head of the GOP working group tasked with issuing recommendations, acknowledged the process was taking longer than expected. “I think I made two commitments, and I haven’t held either one of them, so I don’t want to make anymore,” Granger told Roll Call. “But we want to vote on a bill before we leave for August. We think that’s very important.”