Hire More Heroes Act of 2014 - Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Madam President, first let me thank my colleague from Oregon, our new shining chairman of the Finance Committee, who is doing such a great job. He is trying, in his own inimitable way--almost always successful way--to weave together ideas of Democrats and Republicans to create a bipartisan solution, first on the issue of extenders--and that will be the big test case, and he knows it--and second on tax reform in general. If we can't pass these tax extenders in a bipartisan way, it will not bode well for tax reform. I am hopeful, with the initial signs and the overwhelming vote yesterday, we can get that vote done.

As the Senator mentioned, it has many ideas from different parts of the country--ideas from Democrats, ideas from Republicans, ideas, as he was kind enough to mention, that we worked on together, such as the proposal Senator Roberts and I put together under the guidance of Senator Coons, who was the originator of the idea.

I thank my friend from Arizona. I know he has some important words to speak in the next few minutes and has let me go now. I appreciate that very much. I know everyone looks forward to hearing from him.

IMMIGRATION

It is apropos my colleague from Arizona is on the floor because we worked together for so long and hard--at least in the Senate--successfully on this issue of immigration. So I rise today to continue a conversation I started 2 weeks ago about the House's incomprehensible refusal to do anything to try to fix our broken immigration system.

I remind everyone it has now been 320 days since the Senate passed a strong bipartisan bill that would secure our borders, hold employers accountable for hiring illegal workers, grow our economy, and provide a chance for people currently here illegally to get right with the law and earn legal status. During all that time the House has failed to do anything to fix our broken immigration system.

To be clear, the problem is not that there is a difference of opinion between a House bill and a Senate bill on immigration that cannot be reconciled. The problem is that House Republicans have completely abdicated their responsibility to address the important issue of fixing our broken immigration system. Again, the problem isn't that the House has passed immigration laws that the Senate disagrees with; the problem is that the House won't put any immigration bills up for a vote no matter what is in those bills.

Two weeks ago I stated on the floor that the reason the House has done nothing on immigration is because House Republicans have handed the gavel of leadership on immigration to far-right extremists, such as Congressman Steve King. Not only has this point not been refuted by anyone in the Republican Party, it has actually been confirmed in various news sources that have come out since the speech.

For instance, just 2 days ago Speaker Boehner was quoted as saying:

I do believe the vast majority of our members do want to deal with this, they want to deal with it openly, honestly and fairly.

Speaker Boehner is making clear that these folks are part of a "vote no, pray yes'' caucus. But he said immigration hasn't been scheduled for a vote because "there are some members of our party who just don't want to deal with this. It's no secret.''

Now, even by Steve King's analysis, 20 to 25 Members of the House Republican side would vote for the Senate's immigration bill. That number is clearly an underestimation of support in the House for the Senate bill, but it shows that even according to STEVEN KING, if the Senate bill were brought up for a vote, it would pass. KING added that about 100 to 150 Republican Members of the House could possibly vote yes on an immigration bill if it were presented for a vote.

Given this broad support for immigration reform that supposedly exists in the House, I would say to Speaker Boehner and the Republican House leadership: What are you waiting for? If you want to pass immigration reform, and you say the vast majority of your Members want to pass immigration reform, schedule immigration reform for a vote. It doesn't have to be our bill, although I think that is a good bipartisan, down-the-middle--not too liberal, not too conservative--approach. But don't do our bill. Do another bill. Come up with your own ideas. That is fine with us.

But the problem is that the House Republican leadership is still too afraid of what Steve King calls the "50 to 70 Republicans who would fight to the last drop of blood against any immigration bill.''

It is time for the House Republican leadership to decide whether they stand with the majority of the American people and the supposed majority of their conference or whether they are really going to let Steve King continue to dictate the policy of the Republican Party on immigration.

Just to be clear, right now Steve King is winning. Just last week he said:

If I had the power, the authority to kill everything immigration-wise that comes through the House, if they actually handed me the keys to the kingdom, and if I actually had the gavel that controls the immigration issue, that would be nice.

Well, who among us can say he has not been handed the gavel on immigration policy when nothing is being done on immigration--just as he said he would do if he were indeed handed the gavel?

What has the House actually done on immigration these past 2 years? Nothing. Look it up. This is what Steve King wants--he wants the House to do nothing. He is winning and America is losing.

I am not the only one who is frustrated with this inexplicable inaction. Just this week Tom Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said:

If the Republicans don't do it, they shouldn't bother to run a candidate in 2016.

He added that "failure to act is not an option'' and that "we're absolutely crazy if we don't take advantage of having passed an immigration bill out of the Senate.''

I don't always agree with the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, but he is right. Not only is this inaction damaging the Republican Party politically, it is also inflicting needless damage to our economy. Our GDP could be growing by over 3 percent by passing this bill--more than any Republican tax cut or Democratic spending proposal. But Steve King says no and Speaker Boehner abandons ship.

Mario Diaz-Balart, another Republican working to pass immigration reform, said that Republicans need a deadline to get moving on immigration reform and that if no action was taken by the August recess, the Republican brand would be damaged with Latino voters for years to come.

Has Speaker Boehner said: Fine, we will schedule a vote before August recess? No, he has not. There is no sign that anything will ever be done on immigration reform. Even with the very small, microscopic measure known as the ENLIST Act, which would let certain immigrant youth earn legal status by joining the military, the House has refused to consider this so far as part of the Defense authorization bill.

Republicans keep trying to place the blame on the President, saying he can't be entrusted to enforce any laws. We believe that is a phony excuse, but if that is really their problem, let's pass a bill now and delay implementation until 2017. I would support that. And then we would have no President Obama enforcing any of these laws. Let's call their bluff. Is it Obama? Is he the problem? Then pass a bill where he can't enforce any of these laws. We can come to a reluctant agreement on that. If Republicans can't agree to pass a bill that goes into effect after the President's term, then we know that mistrust of the President is nothing but a straw man.

Let's be honest about what is happening right now. Republicans are currently doing nothing on immigration reform because they don't want to rock the boat with primaries happening in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia, and other key States that are occurring between now and early June. But we can't keep having broken families living under a broken system forever without any idea of when Congress might act to finally provide badly needed reform.

So today I wish to be clear on what our window is for the House to pass immigration reform. It is the window between early June and the August recess. So today I am saying to Speaker Boehner, Leader Cantor, and other Republican leaders who refuse to schedule a vote on immigration reform during this window between early June and the August recess, it will not pass until 2017 at the earliest. I believe it will then pass in 2017 after Republicans take a shellacking in the Presidential and congressional elections. But in the meantime, if immigration reform is not passed during this window, Republicans will have to admit that Steve King controls the Republican Party platform on immigration. If nothing happens during this window, it will be clear that this occurred because Steve King calls the shots and he has won the immigration debate among the House Republicans. Whatever their supposed excuse for inaction, inaction is consent to Steve King's point of view.

Where are the leaders in the House--the Republican Party--with the courage to stand up to Steve King and the far right and say: Enough is enough. We will not let our party be hijacked by extremists whose xenophobia causes them to prefer maintaining a broken system over achieving a tough, fair, and practical long-term solution.

Make no mistake about it. Immigration reform will pass either this year with bipartisan support and a bipartisan imprint or it will pass in a future year with only Democratic support and Democratic imprint because Democrats will control Congress and the White House simply because Republicans have failed to pass immigration reform.

In the meantime, the President would be more than justified in acting anytime after recess begins to make whatever changes he feels necessary to make our immigration system work better for those unfairly burdened by our broken laws. If House Republicans refuse to act, it is incumbent on all of us to look at all the areas where we can act administratively to fix our broken system.

I hope immigration reform passes this year.

I see my two colleagues from Arizona who worked so long and hard and courageously and pulled the bill further away from what many Democrats might want, but they knew that America and their State of Arizona demanded a solution. Let's rally to their side. Let's rally to the side of all Americans, a majority of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans, all of whom want comprehensive immigration reform.

I hope immigration reform passes this year because our broken families, our economy, and our country so badly need it. Let's hope the House finally stops talking and starts acting.

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