HERSHEY, Pa. — Congressional Republicans journeyed to a town famous for its chocolate Thursday, no doubt hoping that some of that sweetness rubs off as they spend a two-day policy retreat trying to forge consensus on divisive issues like immigration.
Republicans control all of Congress for the first time in eight years, and the House and Senate GOP are holding a joint retreat for the first time in a decade. The main focus of the confab in Hershey, Pa., aides say, is to build relationships and to get a sense of where various members and factions stand on key issues like Obamacare and tax reform.
But with the House having passed legislation that would simultaneously fund the Department of Homeland Security and reverse President Obama’s “executive amnesty” for illegal immigrants, the immigration issue is likely to receive the most attention. Funding for DHS expires Feb. 27, and the House-passed bill is unlikely to overcome an expected Democratic filibuster in the Senate.
So, although House and Senate Republicans will brainstorm for ideas on cross-chamber cooperation during joint policy sessions — covering jobs, the economy, and the budget process, as well as healthcare and others — the session dealing with border security and immigration could be the most politically significant. On this topic, the goal is to come to some sort of resolution.
Guest speakers slated to address the gathering over the two days include comedian Jay Leno, to talk about the issue of military veterans and their families; former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan; Walter Isaacson, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute; and Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., are scheduled to hold a joint, question-and-answer town hall for rank and file legislators. The retreat is being held at the Hershey Lodge resort in central Pennsylvania and was organized by House Republican Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Thune, R-S.D.
