Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I was here on the floor when Senator Mo Cowan gave his farewell remarks. He came to the Senate as an appointee to fill the spot John Kerry left vacant when he left to the Secretary of State's position. I can't think of a person who came to the Senate who has been so warmly received so quickly.

Senator Harry Reid made the comment that it is rare for a new Member--just 6 months of seniority--to get a standing ovation at his caucus lunch. Mo Cowan got two yesterday, which I think is a tribute to the fact that we enjoyed his service and value his friendship, and will remember him for his fine representation of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Mo Udall, a wise and witty longtime member of this Senate, famously said that once politics gets in your blood, the only cure is embalming fluid.

There is a lot of evidence to support that idea. But another MO--Senator MO COWAN--is an exception to the rule.

When he was appointed 5 months ago to fill the seat vacated by Secretary of State John Kerry, Senator COWAN said he was happy to serve his State--but only a new Senator could be elected to finish Secretary Kerry's term in this Senate.

Well, yesterday Massachusetts voters went to the polls to choose that new Senator. I look forward to Senator ED MARKEY joining this body very soon.

For now, I want to take a moment to thank MO COWAN for his service to his State, this Senate and our Nation.

Senator COWAN has served with wisdom, courage and civility. He has made friends and allies on both sides of the aisle--no easy feat.

I have to confess, I was probably pre-disposed to like Senator COWAN because of his sartorial style. The last Senator to wear a bow-tie so regularly was my dear friend and political mentor, Paul Simon.

More admirable than Senator COWAN's sense of style, however, is his sense of fairness and decency and courage.

He has co-sponsored important bills including the Paycheck Fairness Act, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and the Safe Chemical Act.

In the wake of the terrible murders of 20 little children and their teachers in Newtown, CT, Senator COWAN voted for sensible regulations to help keep weapons of war out of the hands of criminals and those with serious mental illness.

He voted for a budget resolution that would enable us to continue reducing the Federal deficit while still, meeting our obligations today and investing in a secure future.

I am particularly grateful to Senator COWAN for co-sponsoring a bill Senator ENZI and I have worked on for several years and which this Senate passed. The Marketplace Fairness Act will give States--if they wish to use it--a way to collect sales and use taxes in Internet purchases--taxes that are already owed but rarely collected. Massachusetts lost $268 million last year because of the inability to collect these taxes.

He flew on Air Force One with President Obama and travelled to the Middle East with a bipartisan group of Senators to investigate the Syrian civil war.

Senator COWAN has also been a diligent defender of the people of Massachusetts. He and Senator WARREN have worked especially hard to protect their State's struggling fishing industry.

His service here was short, but his record is impressive. It is especially impressive considering the fact that before he was sworn in as a Senator, Mo Cowan had never held a single elective position in his life.

William Maurice ``MO'' COWAN was born in a small rural town in North Carolina that he sometimes likens to the old TV town of Mayberry. His father died when Mo was 16 years old. His widowed mother raised Mo and his sisters on the money she earned as a seamstress, the equivalent of about minimum wage.

Mo Cowan graduated from Duke University--the first person in his family to graduate from a 4-year college. He earned a law degree from Northeastern School of Law in Boston.

He earned a reputation as a very good lawyer and a mentor to other young lawyers in the Boston area, especially young lawyers of color.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick convinced Senator COWAN to join his administration as his chief counsel and later promoted him to chief of staff.

When Governor Patrick approached Senator Cowan about serving as Massachusetts' junior Senator until yesterday's special election could be held, Senator Cowan tried to persuade the Governor to choose someone else. Thank goodness he lost that debate.

Mo Cowan is a young man--especially by Senate standards--just 44 years old. He was born on April 4, 1969. He came into this world 1 year to the day after Dr. Martin Luther King died.

With his appointment to the Senate, Senator Cowan became the eighth African American ever to serve in this body. He and Senator Scott made history--the first time that two African Americans had ever served in this Senate at the same time.

I think Dr. King would be pleased that we have made progress, but he would also remind us that we still have a long way to in achieving a Senate that better reflects the American people, and he would be right.

I might add that the Supreme Court's ruling yesterday striking down parts of the Voting Rights Act means we may have to work even harder to make that possible. And I am committed to doing so.

On the day that Senator Cowan was sworn in to this body, he said: Days like today are what my mother spoke of when I was a kid, [and she said] that if you worked hard and did the right things and you treated peoples well, anything could happen.

Years from now, other mothers will teach that lesson to their sons and daughters--and they will able to point to Senator Cowan as proof.

In closing I want to thank Senator Cowan's wife Stacy and their young sons Miles and Grant for sharing so much of their husband and father with this Senate.

To my colleague Senator Cowan: It has been a privilege to work with you.

Mr. President, I ask how much time is remaining?

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, what is pending before the Senate is a piece of history. For those who are witnessing this debate--whether in the galleries or at home on C-SPAN--you are watching a debate on the floor of the Senate that doesn't happen very often. We are debating the comprehensive immigration reform bill. It is the first time in 25 years we have tackled this issue.

If you look at the history of the United States, you know right off the bat we are a Nation of immigrants. My mother was an immigrant to this country. Many of us have immigrant parents and grandparents and great-grandparents. That is who we are. We come from all over the world to this great Nation. But the history of immigration law will tell you that immigrants aren't always well or warmly received. There have been periods in history where we have excluded people from certain countries and excluded immigrants in general. There were other periods where we couldn't wait to get the cheap labor from anyplace in the world to build this great Nation. We have had real mixed feelings when it comes to immigration.

The sad reality is for 25 years our immigration laws haven't worked well. The estimate is we have about 11 million undocumented people living in America. I have come to know many of them. They are not who you think they are. Many of them turn out to be the mothers in a household where the father and all the kids are American citizens. Many of them turn out to be the people who sat down next to you in church. They are the ones who, incidentally, cleared your table at the restaurant. They are making the beds in your hotel room for the next morning. They are watching your kids in daycare. And they are taking care of your mom at the nursing home. These are the undocumented people of America, many of them just asking for a chance to be part of this American family. This bill gives them a chance.

But it isn't easy. They have to come forward and register with the government, tell us who they are, where they live, where they work, and tell us about their families. Then they have to pay a fine of $500. That is the first installment. Then any job they have, they have to pay their taxes and submit themselves to a criminal background check.

If that isn't enough, we tell them we are going to continue to monitor them over 10 years, watching them. During that period of time they have to demonstrate they are learning English. Then if they complete that 10-year period, they have a 3-year chance to become citizens. It is a 13-year process. Many of them have already been here for 10 years or more. But if they are ready to travel down this long road--and many are--at the end of the day their dream will come true. They will be citizens in America. It is no amnesty. They are going to pay a heavy price to make it all the way through those 13 years, but it gives them their chance, and it makes us a safer Nation knowing who they are, where they live, and where they work.

We are going to tighten our system so people applying for jobs in the future have to prove who they are--no more phony Social Security numbers, no more phony IDs. There is going to have to be real proof before you get a job in America.

Approximately 40 percent came here on a visitor's visa and overstayed. If you came here on that visa, we are going to track you into America and out of America. The system is going to be tough.

And when it comes to the border, there is a difference of opinion between the Democratic side and the Republican side of the aisle about how much to do. Well, we have made a dramatic investment in border security between the United States and Mexico. In the last 10 years we have increased the Border Patrol between the two countries from 10,000 to 20,000. In many sectors we now have 97-percent effectiveness stopping those who try to cross the border. We are going to invest 20,000 more workers on that border--40,000 Border Patrol people.

People who have come to the floor critical of this bill say it isn't enough. I will have to tell you, for some of these folks it will never be enough. We are going to put billions of dollars into making that border safe and reducing, if not eliminating, illegal immigration. That is part of our promise in this bipartisan agreement that was reached.

I have been fortunate to serve with the so-called Gang of 8, four Democrats and four Republicans. We have sat across the table for 5 months now, 30 different sessions, working out all the details, and we have come up with an agreement--a good bipartisan agreement that is finally going to move us forward.

I might add one footnote. Twelve years ago, I introduced a bill called the DREAM Act, and said children brought to this country deserve a special chance to become citizens. They didn't do anything wrong. They didn't break any laws. They were 2 and 5 and 10 years old. They were brought here by their parents. They deserve a chance. This bill is the strongest bill ever brought to the floor of the Senate when it comes to the DREAMers. I am proud of that. I am happy these young people will finally get the chance to prove themselves, as I am sure they will, when it comes to the future of this country.

There are lots of other provisions. Never take for granted that the fruits and vegetables on your table appear magically. They are picked, and many of them are picked by foreign workers, migrant workers. We have an agriculture worker section here, which is important for the future of our agricultural economy. We have a section when it comes to the talented people we want to keep in the United States once educated here, and those we can bring in to help create jobs in our country. But the first rule in this bill, and the one I insisted on: Every job has to be offered to an American first. With our unemployment, that is the starting point, and it is included in this bill and it should be.

There are parts of this bill I don't applaud or necessarily endorse, but it is the product of a compromise. We are not only proving to this Nation that we can address the biggest issue in our heritage, we are trying to prove to this Nation this Chamber--this Senate--can go to work, roll up its sleeves, and get something done on a bipartisan basis.

There will be some ``no'' votes, but the test votes we have had so far show a strong bipartisan majority to move forward. If we get it done--and I hope to God we do during the course of this week--I pray that my colleagues over in the House will accept their responsibility to this Nation to accept the need for comprehensive immigration reform.

I yield the floor.

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