Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act
Floor Speech
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Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I rise to speak about an agreement I have reached with Senator Graham on the Hirono-Murray-Murkowski amendment No. 1718, which has been cosponsored by Senators BOXER, GILLIBRAND, CANTWELL, STABENOW, KLOBUCHAR, WARREN, BALDWIN, MIKULSKI, SHAHEEN, LEAHY, FRANKEN, MENENDEZ, and Schumer.
I ask unanimous consent that Senator Landrieu be added as a cosponsor.
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Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I have been speaking on the Senate floor and talking with my colleagues about my concern that the immigration bill we are considering inadvertently disadvantages women who are trying to immigrate to the United States. I believe the new merit-based point system for employment green cards will significantly disadvantage women who want to come to this country, particularly unmarried women.
Many women overseas do not have the same educational or career advancement opportunities available to men in those countries. This new merit-based system will prioritize green cards for immigrants with high levels of education or experience. By favoring these immigrants, the bill essentially cements unfairness against women into U.S. immigration law. That is not the way to go.
After I brought these concerns to Senators SCHUMER and GRAHAM, Senator Graham graciously agreed to sit down with me. We were able to work out a way to address the concerns about women in the merit-based system that I believe will significantly improve this bill. The new Hirono-Murray-Murkowski amendment reflects a few changes which we agreed to after working with Senator Graham.
The changes we made include: limits on the ability for certain types of health care workers to obtain points multiple times based solely on their employment, clarification that there must be a personal relationship to obtain points under the humanitarian concerns section of the amendment, elimination of the provision that awarded points for being a last surviving relative of a U.S. citizen, harmonization of tier 3 with tiers 1 and 2 by adding points for English language skills, and ensuring the tier 3 visas do not--do not--reduce the overall numbers of tier 1 and tier 2 visas available.
We should continue to increase the opportunities for women in our immigration system, but I believe this agreement will help level the playing field for women. Our amendment would establish a new tier 3 merit-based point system that will provide a fair opportunity for women to compete for merit-based green cards.
Complementary to the high-skilled, tier 1 and lower skilled tier 2, the new tier 3 would include professions commonly held by women so as not to limit women's opportunities for economic-focused immigration to our country. This system would provide 30,000 tier 3 visas and would not reduce the visas available in the other two merit-based tiers.
I wish to thank Senator Graham for working with me to modify this proposal in such a way he could agree to lend his support while still addressing the real concerns that women will be at a disadvantage under the new merit-based system. I believe our amendment is a step in the right direction toward addressing the disparities for women in the new merit-based system, and over 100 organizations, including faith-based organizations, support the Hirono-Murray-Murkowski amendment.
I urge my colleagues to support this amendment to improve the new merit-based immigration system and make this bill better for women. I hope we can reach an agreement to bring this amendment to the floor for a vote.
I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
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