Washington (CNN) – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi suggested House Republicans were blocking action on immigration reform because of racial issues.
"I think race has something to do with the fact that they're not bringing up an immigration bill," Pelosi told reporters at her weekly press conference Thursday.
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Referring to GOP members, Pelosi added, "I've heard them say to the Irish, 'If it was just you, this would be easy.'"
Pelosi was responding to a question about Attorney General Eric Holder's remarks at a civil rights event suggesting congressional Republicans treated him and President Obama differently than others who have held their positions. The Democratic Leader sidestepped whether she believed race was a factor in the GOP's posture, but said of congressional Republicans, "generally speaking they are disrespectful to the representatives of the President's administration, very disrespectful."
Michael Steel, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, didn't directly respond to Pelosi citing race, but insisted the House isn't moving forward on immigration legislation because Republicans don't trust the President to carry out the laws in place now.
"The Speaker has said again and again he wants to address the broken immigration system. The problem right now is that we have too many examples of the President not enforcing current laws," Steel told CNN.