Reuters: U.S.: House Speaker admonishes fellow Republican for immigrant slur

Reuters: U.S. Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

House Speaker admonishes fellow Republican for immigrant slur Mar 29th 2013, 16:56 Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Bipartisan immigration reform bill takes shape in House Fri, Mar 15 2013 Obama makes little headway with Republicans over deficit Wed, Mar 13 2013 Analysis & Opinion Republicans won’t embrace same-sex marriage anytime soon India's IP growing pains House Speaker John Boehner holds a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington March 21, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Gary Cameron WASHINGTON | Fri Mar 29, 2013 12:56pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner on Friday condemned a reference to migrant workers made by fellow Republican Representative Don Young, calling the comments "offensive and beneath the dignity of the office." Young referred to migrant workers as "wetbacks" in a radio interview aired in his home state of Alaska on Thursday, but issued an apology late in the day after criticism. The term is considered a slur against illegal immigrants who crossed into the United States from Mexico. "My father had a ranch. We used to hire 50-60 wetbacks ... to pick tomatoes ... it takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It is all done by machine," Young said in the interview. The lawmaker was speaking about the economy and technology. He later said he did not realize the term was considered offensive. "I used a term that was commonly used during my days growing up on a farm in Central California," Young said in a statement. "I know that this term is not used in the same way nowadays and I meant no disrespect." Boehner issued a statement on Friday saying there was "no excuse," for the comments. "Congressman Young's remarks were offensive and beneath the dignity of the office he holds. I don't care why he said it - there's no excuse," Boehner said in a statement issued on Friday. (Reporting by Kim Dixon; editing by Jackie Frank) Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (2) The GOP, in its latest attempt at 'modern makeover 2.0,' is going to feed Sarah Palin's buddy in Alaska…. to the wolves. Mar 29, 2013 1:00pm EDT  --  Report as abuse What's the big deal? This guy has been doing this for 30 years. He even got away with changing a congressional bill after it had been passed, to help a campaign contributor. How does one get away with that? If I was a congressman I would be raising cain about it. Mar 29, 2013 1:18pm EDT  --  Report as abuse See All Comments » Add Your Comment

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions