Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Tennessee for his hard work, his diligence. One of the hallmarks of a truly outstanding legislator is the ability to walk in the other person's shoes. It is something we should all try to do, to see why the other side thinks differently than you and come to meet somewhere in the middle. That is what my good friend from Tennessee has done throughout the years he has been in the Senate, and he has had no finer moment--I completely agree--than this strong effort on immigration reform. I want to say the same about my colleague from North Dakota. I know for both of them this is not easy. This is courageous, and they are doing the right thing for their country, and with that, there is a great deal of satisfaction.

I thank our great leader. His steadfast, quiet style helps us get through just about anything in this body. He is my friend, and he is a great leader. I am proud to serve under him.

I thank the chairman of our committee as well for his steadfast leadership and the other seven members of the Gang of 8. We have come to become friends. We have argued with each other, we have bonded with each other but, most of all, we are united in this effort to make our Nation better by fixing our broken immigration system. It is a wacky system. It turns away people who will create jobs and lets people cross the border who will take away American jobs. It makes no sense.

We are now ready to move forward further with this amendment. The bipartisan ship of comprehensive immigration reform, launched in January, continues to sail forward with the acceptance by the Gang of 8 of this Hoeven-Corker amendment. Let's make no mistake about it, nothing in this amendment or the bill satisfies anyone completely, but together the amendment and the bill provide a sturdy craft that will weather the upcoming storms we face and get us finally to our long desired port--comprehensive immigration reform signed into law.

It is easy for people to focus on what they do not like in this bill. That is what has sunk effort after effort after effort. Instead, I urge all my colleagues--from the most liberal to the most conservative, from the most Democratic to the most Republican--to look at the so many positives in this amendment and this bill.

The American people have told us over and over that they will be fair and accept commonsense solutions for the 11 million living in the shadows and for future immigration reform if they are convinced there will not be wave after wave of future illegal immigration. That is just what this bill does. That is why it is a turning point.

This amendment--the offering of this amendment--is a turning point. We have always known there would be large numbers of Democrats who support final passage of this bill in the Senate. But this amendment gives us the real chance of getting a very significant number of our Republican colleagues.

I believe a large bipartisan vote in this body will change the dynamic in the House to make them far more amenable to passing immigration reform. I believe a large bipartisan vote in this body will wake up our colleagues on the other side in the House, ask them to live up to their responsibility to fix our broken immigration system for the good of the country. Hopefully, as Congressmen look at how their Senators voted, they will be influenced by it and take the same kind of courageous stand the Senators from Tennessee and North Dakota and many others have taken.

There have been three main objections to comprehensive immigration reform as we have moved forward: first, that the process was not going to be open; second, that it was going to cost the taxpayers a lot of money; and third, that it would not close down our borders. I believe, with this amendment, we answer all three resoundingly.

On the first, the fact that we need an open process, this process has been tremendously, completely transparently open. The bill was filed way in advance of the committee markup of the bill. Amendment after amendment was debated and debated and debated. Many amendments were accepted, many from the other side. Many were rejected. But it was an open process.

The leader has endeavored to make that process be open on the floor as well. Some others--some of whom have actually complained about the lack of openness of the process--have delayed our ability to offer amendments, but hopefully that will end soon.

The second objection--that it will cost money--that was successfully debunked this week by the CBO report on this bill. It said three things. It said, first, it will reduce the deficit by $175 billion in this decade and another $700 billion in the next decade. There is a lot more deficit reduction in this immigration reform bill than many other bills we have voted for where the specific goal was deficit reduction.

Second, it will grow our economy. Imagine, it is almost like an elixir. GDP grows over 3 percent this decade and another 5 percent in the next decade. What we have struggled to do to get even a quarter as much growth with programs that either spend money or cut taxes--but the vitality of humanity, particularly the humanity that wishes to risk all and come to America, is perhaps the greatest economic engine of them all, and the CBO recognizes what that will do.

Third, it will create jobs. At a time when we worry about the future job market, we worry about the ratio of retirees to those who are working, this bill is the best antidote.

Finally, on the border, there is no bill tougher on the border, there is no proposal tougher on the border than this one. We create a virtual human fence. There are enough border agents here to be on guard from San Diego, CA, to Brownsville, TX, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

They will only be 1,000 feet apart for every minute the clock ticks. No one--no one--will be able to cross the border with that number of people on the border. It is a virtual human fence. Many have asked for that to protect the border.

So these have been the three major objections. We have answered them all resoundingly. We have answered the fact that the process may not be open by making it transparent and open. We have answered the view that it will cost money by showing it will save money. We have answered the view that the border will not be secured by the addition of the Hoeven-Corker amendment.

There is only one other objection to these three objections. Lack of openness in the process, costing the government money, not closing the border are the stated objections. There is only one other objection. It is usually unstated. That is the earned path to citizenship. If portions of this bill were voted on separately, most of our colleagues who oppose the bill would vote for them. They would certainly vote for more border protection. They would certainly vote for deficit reduction. They would certainly vote for a future immigration flow that creates jobs. So why are they voting against it? They simply do not believe in a path to citizenship.

That is fine, but it ought to be stated. The beauty of the Corker-Hoeven amendment is it rips bare the real objection. It is no longer border security. It is, I do not want a path to citizenship that some may profess. So let's debate it on that issue.

By the way, it is no mistake, no accident, that the House wants to do it in pieces, individually, because they do not believe in a path to citizenship, those who profess that.

But mark my words here today. No bill--no bill--on immigration reform will be signed into law by the President without a path to citizenship. It can be an earned path, it can be a tough path, it can be a difficult path, but it is a real path. It is essential for any immigration reform. To those who think they can get the pieces of this bill on comprehensive immigration reform without a path to citizenship, they are sadly mistaken.

In conclusion, we are just halfway through our process. We still have a long road ahead. The good ship SS Immigration Reform will weather many more storms. But the addition of Corker-Hoeven gives us new masts, new wind in our sails. I am confident that if we stay united, Democrats and Republicans of good will, we will see, before the end of this year, comprehensive immigration reform signed into law by the President of the United States.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source