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Floor Speech

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Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I have talked about how this bill treats immigrant taxpayers, specifically the restrictions on access to Federal safety net programs. The bill prohibits immigrant taxpayers from using programs they helped to fund with the hundreds of billions of dollars of taxes they pay. This is truly unfair. I filed an amendment to correct this unfair treatment. This amendment is No. 1317. My amendment simply says immigrant taxpayers who are lawfully present and working and who have paid all of their tax liabilities should be able to use the Federal programs their taxes pay for. This is simply common sense.

I ask unanimous consent that Senators Boxer, Rockefeller, and Schatz be added as cosponsors of amendment No. 1317.

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Ms. HIRONO. I thank these Senators for their support.

This amendment is supported by over 180 organizations including the National Immigration Law Center, National Council of La Raza, the Asian Pacific Islander American Health Forum, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, the AFL-CIO, U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.

I have several letters from these organizations that attest to their support of my amendment. I ask unanimous consent that one of these letters, which is signed by 179 organizations, be printed in the Record following my remarks.

I have also been working with many Senators on an amendment to provide additional opportunities for women in the new merit-based immigration system created in the bill. Amendment No. 1718 would create a new tier 3 category with 30,000 merit-based visas. Tier 3 is structured in a way that allows women a fairer chance to compete for these visas.

The Hirono-Murray-Murkowski amendment currently has 19 cosponsors. I ask unanimous consent that Senators Whitehouse and Schatz be added as cosponsors of amendment No. 1718.

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Ms. HIRONO. Amendment 1718 is a modified version of amendment No. 1504. I made those modifications after working with Senator Graham, and he has agreed to support this new amendment. I thank him for his support.

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Ms. HIRONO. I ask unanimous consent for 30 additional seconds.

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Ms. HIRONO. I also have letters from over 100 organizations in support of amendment Nos. 1718 and 1504. I ask unanimous consent that some of these letters of support be printed in the Record following my remarks.

I thank UNITE HERE, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, We Belong Together, and the Asian American Justice Center for organizing these letters and for their support. I also thank the AFL-CIO and SEIU for their support.

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