CONCORD – The N.H. House of Representatives endorsed Arizona’s anti-illegal immigration law Wednesday.

Along party lines, the Republican-led House approved and sent to the state Senate an endorsement resolution for the Arizona law that the Obama administration blocked and critics claimed gives legal license to racial and ethnic profiling.

House Speaker William O’Brien, R-Mont Vernon, took the unusual tact of casting a vote from the rostrum for the resolution that passed, 243-102.

“The federal government has failed Arizona and other border states. Washington must start respecting state’s rights, especially upon their failure to get the job done,” O’Brien said in a statement. “We must show our full support for Arizona to ensure its right to protect the safety and financial health of its citizens. New Hampshire needs to stand shoulder to shoulder with Arizona in demanding the federal government protect our borders or stand aside as the states do so.”

Rep. Roland Theberge, D-Berlin, said New Hampshire should not follow the lead of Arizona and four other states that enacted similar, anti-illegal immigration laws, some of which have been struck down in federal courts.

Further, Theberge said some officials in Quebec have warned that passing this resolution could harm New Hampshire-Canada relations.

“How soon we have forgotten the words inscribed on the Statute of Liberty?” Theberge asked. “Is the lady’s lamp dimmer now, and we are closing the door to immigrants?”

House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt, R-Salem, said Arizona was well within its right to impose these restrictions.

“One of the government’s most important roles is the protection of its citizens and borders, and if the federal government is unable or unwilling to do so, the states must,” Bettencourt said.

Rep. Ted Rokas, D-Manchester, said Arizona voters defeated that law’s prime sponsor last fall, 53 percent to 45 percent.

“Republicans in the New Hampshire House today passed a resolution that justifies discrimination,” Rokas claimed.

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