U.S. HOUSE Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor dipped briefly into Colorado politics to take part in a fundraiser for Congressmen Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, and Mike Coffman, R-Aurora.
Advocates for immigration reform protested outside Denver’s Brown Palace, decrying policy positions of the House leaders and the long-stalled negotiations in Washington. Many protesters belonged to the Service Employees International Union, whose membership is largely made up of immigrants. The union has made immigration reform a top priority.
At what was billed a “pro-Israel” breakfast, sponsored by former Sen. Bill Armstrong and former Gov. Bill Owens, Cantor decried what he called the Obama administration’s inaction on Syria, implying the administration was responsible on some level for continuing conflict in that country, including the rebel rocket attack that today killed 13 in the northern city of Aleppo. Cantor said Russian President Vladimir Putin “saw that – no consequences,” which he suggested prompting Putin to move into Crimea unafraid of response from Washington.
“Doug Lamborn knows this,” Cantor told the group of mainly Jewish, metro Denver Republicans. “Doug is anything but weak.”
With Congress in recess, Cantor and Boehner are on a week-long tour to raise money for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
[ Photo: Advocates for immigration reform outside Denver's Brown Palace. ]