Politics & Government
Councilman Rice Gets Chance to Bend Obama's Ear
Immigration, transit and education topped Craig Rice's agenda ahead of Friday meeting.
County Councilman Craig Rice was granted an audience with President Barack Obama and officials of his administration on Friday afternoon, an opportunity he intended to use to push for education and immigration reform and more funding for mass transit.
The District 2 Democrat from Germantown was invited to the White House along with
other members of the People For the American Way Foundation’s Young Elected Officials Network. The organization consists of more than 600 elected officials nationwide.
Friday’s meeting was closed to reporters. Rice has not returned calls from Patch today.
Rice told Patch before the meeting that wanted to focus on federal and local partnerships for economic development, mass transit funding and No Child Left Behind.
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He also acknowledged a disagreement with the federal government on immigration policy, particularly on "Secure Communities," a jail-based program that uses fingerprint databases to identify illegal immigrants. The program is set to take effect in Montgomery County in September, to the chagrin of councilmembers including Rice.
"Instead of a program like ‘Secure Communities’ that does nothing to fix our immigration problem, we need a practical approach to immigration that encourages pathways to citizenship," Rice said before the meeting.
Rice joined the Montgomery County Council in December and represents the upcounty district, which includes Montgomery Village. He serves on the council’s Education Committee and its Health and Human Services Committee.
