Providing for Consideration of Senate Amendments to H.R. 5281, Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2010

Floor Speech

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Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. I thank my friend.

I think it's unfortunate the way that the majority leadership has treated this issue when, Mr. Speaker, you see that after bringing the stimulus and the cap-and-trade and the health care legislation and all of the political capital that the President and this majority leadership had has been exhausted; and after receiving that defeat at the polls, after all that they bring this legislation to the floor.

I think the process is most unfortunate. And the way in which they have handled this legislation, Mr. Speaker, shows the lack of interest that they have had in it. That doesn't negate, however, the fact that the legislation is extremely important. If there is anything that distinguishes the United States of America--I think in an appropriate and in an admirable way--it is that we are a meritocracy. You stand or you fall in the United States of America based on your own decisions, not the decisions of your parents or your grandparents or their grandparents. Your decisions determine your reputation in the United States of America.

So what we are dealing with in this legislation is who we are dealing with, number one, the kind of immigration that we work day in and day out to try to attract and retain in the United States, college-educated people who have become so after extraordinary hard work.

Secondly, Mr. Speaker, after thinking about what we are trying to do, it all boils down to the decisions. I referred previously to the fact that the United States is distinguished by the fact that the American people stand or fall based on our own decisions. What are the decisions that those students who we're dealing with in this legislation have made in their lives? They didn't make the decision to come to the United States out of status. The only decisions that they have made in their lives have been to work hard, to study hard, to make our communities proud. This legislation seeks to give them an opportunity to make their situation regular, normal so that they can contribute even more to the greatness of this Nation.

At the end of the day, despite the unfortunate process, we cannot stop thinking about who we are dealing with in this legislation. That is why I have been, for a decade, a sponsor or cosponsor of this legislation, and that is why I am proud to support it this evening. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.

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