House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan gave his blessing to the immigration bill emerging from a bipartisan group in the House.
"I do support what they're doing," the Wisconsin Republican told
The Hill. "I think they put out a good product. It's good policy."
The group plans to unveil its bill later this month, even though conservative Rep. Raúl Labrador of Idaho, one of its eight main members, quit negotiations over objections related to healthcare. Labrador, one of four Republican negotiators, has expressed concern that taxpayers would have to cover the cost of coverage for illegal immigrants.
Ryan, however, doesn't have a problem with the fact that the bipartisan group opted not address healthcare issues for immigrants in their proposal, who offered his support on Thursday.
"They just decided not to address it in this group. That just means it's an outstanding issue to be decided later on," said Ryan, who has maintained a close tie with the negotiators about potential costs associated with a reform bill.
"Healthcare is an issue we haven't reconciled yet, but they didn't want it to impede bringing out all the other good ideas that had been agreed to," he added.