Updated…WASHINGTON — Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.), back in the U.S. after a swing through Japan, China and South Korea as part of an official congressional delegation, on Monday is in New York and has a media blitz on his schedule: MSNBC’s Morning Joe in the 8 a.m. ET hour; WSJ Live with Mary Kissel of the WSJ Editorial Board at 1 p.m. ET, topped off with FOX News On the Record with Greta Van Susteran.
Asked on Morning Joe about the prospects for the House moving any immigration legislation, Schock said, “You know, there are plenty of folks in Congress who, you know, say they want to make tough decisions, come to Congress to do the right thing, but when — when push comes to shove, they — they find it difficult to do so.
“But I think the House of Representatives is the place for immigration reform to be addressed. Our body faces the electorate every two years. The Republican majority believes in fixing broken government. This is a broken government program, and it’s why I’ve been very outspoken in pushing my leadership, being very outspoken in my views on the need for immigration reform, and for my district in central Illinois, both agriculture, which is the number one industry, and manufacturing, which is the second largest industry, both of them demand immigration reforms,” Schock said.
From Schock’s office, highlights of Asia trip, known as an official CODEL, short for Congressional Delegation…
23 total on the CODEL led by Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Members included Paul Ryan, Mac Thornberry, Patrick Meehan, Kristi Noem, Kay Granger, Tulsi Gabbard, diplomatic security officials, military escorts, Navy officers, leadership staff and the House Sergeant at Arms.
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The CODEL left DC on Friday April 18 with a stopover in Honolulu for the military flight crew to rest and meetings with USPACOM Commanders.
They celebrated Easter Sunday in Tokyo at the Tokyo Baptist Church Shibuya, and were hosted for dinner by Ambassador Caroline Kennedy.
On Monday, April 21, they met with the Japanese Minister of Defense and later with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki.
On Tuesday they traveled to the Yokosuka naval base via helicopter and had briefings with the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Japan (CNFJ) and the commander of the U.S. 7th Fleet. They toured the USS Shiloh, a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser.
On Wednesday, the CODEL had meetings with Ambassador Sung Kim and General Scaparrotti, the commander of the United Nations Command and U.S. combined forces in Korea. They traveled to the DMZ and saw the border with North Korea. Schock posted a photo on Instagram of the border. They later met with President Park Geun-hye for a discussion about the success of the U.S.-Korea trade agreement that Mr. Schock worked to pass in October 2011.
On Thursday, the CODEL was in Beijing for meeting with senior representatives of the National People’s Congress and with Chairman Zhang Dejiang. That afternoon, they had a roundtable discussion with Western journalists covering China. Friday they traveled to Shanghai and visited the Great Wall at Mutianyu.
