Providing for Consideration of H.R. Border Security and Immigration Reform Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 953 and ask for its immediate consideration.

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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, the House Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 953, providing for consideration of H.R. 6136, the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act. This legislation demonstrates a pivotal moment in our Nation's history, one in which we can choose to, for the first time in decades, make significant improvements to our Nation's broken immigration system.

Mr. Speaker, I have been in this body for just about 3\1/2\ years, and throughout that period of time, and even before as I was working to become a Congressman, I have always been clear with the people of the Fourth Congressional District of the State of Washington that fixing our broken immigration system is a top priority and one that I believe my district, my State, and the entire Nation desperately needs.

With the rule that we bring forward today, I can look my constituents in the eye, and, with certainty, I can tell them that I believe that this legislation, the underlying bill, this consensus legislation that we have before us, is the best opportunity this body has had in many, many years--in fact, decades--to get something signed into law to make a true, lasting, substantive difference to improve our broken immigration system.

While it may not be perfect--few bills are--H.R. 6136, the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act, includes several main tenets to addressing our immigration crisis, and, I should add, it is the only bill that we are considering that includes all four pillars that the President, on numerous occasions, has stated must be a part of any legislation that he will sign into law.

First, this legislation includes desperately needed appropriations for border security. The bill appropriates funding for further construction of the border wall, as well as technology, personnel, and modernization of our ports of entry.

Our border security system is broken and must be fixed, so I would look to my fellow conservatives and say: This is our one shot to get this done. This is our one opportunity to live up to the commitment we gave to our constituents when we said we would secure our border.

Mr. Speaker, I truly believe that this is our only chance, and we can't waste it. We can't squander it. Let's get our border secured once and for all, and keep our commitment to our people.

It also includes a desperately needed solution for the DACA population. I have shared with many of my colleagues time and time again that I have the second highest number of DACA recipients in my district in the State of Washington out of the entire Republican Conference. A full third of Washington State's DACA population lives in my district of central Washington.

I can tell you that I have met with literally hundreds of them, including just this week. Monday afternoon, I met with about half a dozen of these young people. They are smart, hardworking, respectful, caring members of our community, people that you would be proud to call your own constituents. I am proud that this legislation provides them with the certainty that they need so that they can continue moving forward with their educational and professional endeavors, and continue to be productive, upstanding members of society.

Do you know what they told me that they wanted and that they need? They would like hope. We can give it to them with this bill.

Mr. Speaker, this bill also, importantly, addresses the terrible situation that we have all been witnessing regarding family separation at the border. Children should not be taken away from their parents. We can enforce our laws and enforce our border while also keeping families together.

This situation has shown one more broken piece of an immigration system that is not working for anyone, and another example that shows why reform is so desperately needed. It makes clear that minors at the border must remain with their parent or legal guardian.

Mr. Speaker, I want to share an excerpt that comes from an interview that I just watched with one of our Border Patrol agents, a Mr. Chris Cabrera, and if I may quote him, Mr. Speaker.

``We've had this situation going on for 4 years now, and for some reason, we haven't fixed it. I don't think you can necessarily blame it on one administration or the other. It started under one and is continuing under another. It hasn't been fixed, and it needs to be fixed.

``Right now, we have this beacon of, `We'll leave the light on for you and let you come illegally into the country.' If you've seen some of the stuff we've seen down here, you would understand just how important it is to have a tough stance to divert people from coming here. When you see a 12-year-old girl with a Plan B pill--her parents put her on birth control because they know getting violated is part of the journey--that's a terrible way to live. When you see a 4-year-old girl traveling completely alone with just her parents' phone number written across her shirt, something needs to be done.

``We had a 9-year-old boy last year have a heat stroke and die in front of us with no family around. That's because we're allowing people to take advantage of this system.

``Let's be honest here, if we want this law changed, then that's on Congress. That's on nobody else but Congress. They need to get to work and change this law.''

So I would respectfully challenge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, but on the other side of the aisle especially, do not join Senator Schumer, who says there is no need for a legislative solution. There is a need. I urge you to reject much of the rhetoric that I have heard on the floor just today rejecting funding for border security.

It can be easy to make this political and refuse to move a solution forward that actually has a chance of being signed into law in an effort to score political points. That is really easy. But this is just too important. Congress can legislate on this. Congress must legislate on this. And with this bill before us, we can fix this.

Now, to me, something important this legislation does not address is the desperate need for a reliable, efficient, and fair program for American farmers to access a legal, stable supply of workers. Our broken H-2A and guest worker program has hobbled much of the agricultural industry from attaining a reliable workforce.

Chairman Goodlatte of the House Judiciary Committee has been a steadfast advocate for reforming this system, and I thank him for his dedication to this matter over the years. I am heartened by the commitment the Speaker, as well as the majority leader, have given to me and others for a stand-alone vote on agricultural workforce legislation before the August recess. And I pledge to Chairman Goodlatte to work with him and all of my colleagues on that legislation.

So while this bill does not fix every broken aspect of our immigration system, it does take a major consensus-based step toward addressing several main components, including providing certainty for DACA recipients and finally securing our border once and for all.

Honestly, Mr. Speaker, many of my constituents are asking me a pretty hard question: Why isn't this bill bipartisan? Why aren't any Democrats supporting it? I don't know the answer to that, but it may be just as simple as this: Because it is actually something that the President will sign into law.

Even though it provides certainty for the DACA population, which we all want, even though it addresses the terrible situation of family separation at the border, which I hear is something everybody wants to fix, anything that actually fulfills the President's goal of securing the border my Democratic colleagues seemingly refuse to vote for.

Now, I don't engage in hyperbole, but I do not think it is hyperbolic to say that my Democratic colleagues may not want to secure our border or enforce our immigration laws. That is what I see. It is clear to me their desire to not give the President a ``win'' is more important than their desire to actually fix and find a solution to these issues.

Mr. Speaker, compromise is hard. It is tough stuff. Consensus is always difficult. Both of these things seem to have become four letter words. The same goes for cooperation and negotiation. But these are values that I, and many of us, have tried to espouse as we have worked together with colleagues from both sides of the aisle for these many months to find a solution to DACA while also securing our border.

But at the end of the day, we should all be operating under one reality--one thing that maybe some people do not want to accept or admit--whether you like it or not, the President has made it clear what must be included in any bill in order to be signed into law, he has told us what he needs. Now, I have acknowledged this, and I admit, it may be easier for some of us to admit than others, but that is the reality. If my colleagues refuse to accept that the President's top priority is securing the border, then consensus, Mr. Speaker, is just not possible.

I believe our President has shown good-faith willingness to compromise on the issue of DACA. He has come a long way.

Unfortunately, we have not seen that same good-faith effort coming from all of our colleagues. It is disappointing, my friends on the other side of the aisle refuse to work with us to try to find a solution here.

Mr. Speaker, history will be our greatest judge. It is always easy to be a no, but I will always strive to get to yes for the betterment of our Nation's future. There is simply too much riding on this legislation for us to not work as hard as we can to get to yes. The people of this country deserve nothing less.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the gentleman that the Dream Act that he says is supported by many people in this Chamber would do nothing to address the issue that is happening at the border right now. The only piece of legislation before us today is the bill that we have in front of us, H.R. 6136, that if we pass that would solve that situation now.

Mr. NEWHOUSE. Mr. Speaker, let me just say that I am proud to represent my conference and stand here with this piece of legislation that will provide the certainty and the hope for more than 1.8 million DACA recipients and Dreamers in this country. If you vote ``no'' on this bill, you will be denying those individuals what they for so long have been wanting.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be here representing my conference to do just that, to give them that hope, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. NEWHOUSE.
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Mr. Speaker, we have got so many Members coming wanting to speak. How much time do I have remaining?

Mr. Speaker, don't believe me. I would say don't believe Mr. Polis either. Believe the border security guard that I quoted earlier who said that the situation we have at the border happened under the previous administration as well as this one.

Mr. Trump, our President, did not manufacture this crisis, but this bill before us will solve that situation, which is why we need to pass this rule.

That whole issue takes away from one of the most pressing issues of our time, immigration reform. We will solve that, but we can also address immigration.

I am proud of the bill we have before us. I am proud that we have had so many speakers come and speak on its behalf. This is the only bill in front of us that has any potential chance of becoming law. The President will sign this bill because it addresses his four main pillars: it provides for border security, which the American people want. And, certainly, as we have talked a lot today, it provides for those 1.8 million DACA recipients and Dreamers. It is a good bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill because it is the right thing to do.

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