Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015-Motion to Proceed
Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I rise today to talk about the House's tragic and disconcerting failure to do anything to fix our broken immigration system, even though an entire year has passed since the Senate passed bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform with 68 votes--an impressive bipartisan vote total in this increasingly partisan climate.
The House Republicans' lack of action on immigration is almost completely inexplicable if you compare the most recent Republican Party platform to what the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office had to say about the Senate immigration reform bill.
When you take the time to look at both of these documents, you realize that no other bill that we could pass during this or any other Congress would accomplish as many of the Republican Party's stated legislative objectives as passing immigration reform.
Just so that everyone understands this, I want to take you through a step-by-step process where we look at the Republican Party platform and compare it to the CBO report.
The first substantive sentence of the Republican Party platform says:
The best jobs program is economic growth. Republicans will pursue free market policies that are the surest way to boost employment and create job growth and economic prosperity for all.
Well, what does the CBO report have to say about what the immigration bill does for economic growth, job growth, and economic prosperity?
Page 3 of the CBO report says that ``the bill would increase real ..... GDP relative to the amount CBO projects under current law by 3.3 percent in 2023 and by 5.4 percent in 2033. .....''
Think about what that means in a $16 trillion economy. If we pass this bill, we will be adding over $500 billion of annual economic growth to our economy than we otherwise would. This is a staggering number.
Well, what does the immigration bill do for job growth? Page 4 of the CBO report says that the bill will increase the number of jobs in the U.S. economy by about 6 million.
What about economic prosperity? On this front, page 3 of the CBO report says ``the rate of return on capital would be higher under the legislation than under current law. .....'' That means Americans would have more savings and a more secure safety net.
This means that passing immigration reform would accomplish the Republican Party's top priority far better than any piece of legislation the Republicans currently have before Congress.
What about the second stated priority of the Republican platform? That priority says that ``small businesses are the leaders in the world's advances in technology and innovation, and we pledge to strengthen that role and foster small business entrepreneurship.''
Do you know what the best way to foster small business entrepreneurship is? Immigration reform.
According to a study from the Kauffman Foundation, immigrants were almost twice as likely to start small businesses in 2012 as native-born Americans. Madam President, 27.1 percent of new entrepreneurs in 2012 were immigrants. That is up from 13.7 percent in 1996.
More than 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants--90 companies--or by their children--an additional 114 companies--because a lot of these small businesses become big businesses. The immigration bill has an entrepreneurship visa where immigrants who have raised money from legitimate investors will be given a green card to come here, open companies, and hire Americans.
Why will this happen? Because immigrants have always provided the enthusiasm, hard work, and determination to reenergize America. They perform very important jobs at the lower end of the economic spectrum without complaint to make a better life for their families and they provide innovation and new ideas at the higher end of the economy to create the latest big inventions that fuel our growth.
But that is only scratching the surface of what this immigration bill does. The next priority on page 3 of the Republican platform is ``balancing the budget.'' What is the bill that Congress can pass this year that best balances the budget? Immigration reform.
According to CBO, passing immigration reform would ``reduce budget deficits by $197 billion over the 2014-2023 period and by about $700 billion over the 2024-2033 period.'' That is $1 trillion in savings that we can achieve by passing immigration reform.
Finally, with regard to immigration itself, the Republican Party platform says ``our highest priority is to secure the rule of law at both our borders and at ports of entry.''
Under the Senate immigration bill, anyone who wants to try and cross the border illegally will have to figure out a way to get over an 18-foot steel pedestrian fence, get past the border agents standing every 1,000 feet apart from Brownsville to San Diego 24 hours a day, and then evade the sensors, cameras, and drones that will track the crosser until they are caught by a border agent or local police.
That is an amendment proposed by our Republican colleagues but we put into the bill. If you try to overstay your visa, your name will be placed on a list given to immigration enforcement officials to find you, detain you, and deport you. If you try to work here illegally, you will never be able to get a job because you will not have a name, a Social Security number, and a matching picture that will pop up on our new E-Verify system when you apply for a job. Future waves of illegal immigration will be prevented if this bill is passed.
So for all of the railing from the hard right about stopping illegal immigration, no one--no one--can deny there have been huge improvements over current law.
Let's take an inventory of what this bill does: Stimulate the economy. Check. Create jobs. Check. Help small businesses. Check. Reduce the debt. Check. Secure the border. Check. End visa overstays. Check. End illegal employment. Check.
These are all of the things Republicans claim they want to do, all in one bill. So why is it that all of these positive benefits to passing reform and all of the costs we pay for doing nothing, why is it that with that the House of Representatives, and the House Republicans in particular, refuse to do anything to fix our broken immigration system? Why do House Republicans not pass our bill to fix our broken immigration system, not change it, not pass a good law? This question can be answered with one simple word: Fear. One simple word. Fear.
Fear is what often causes people to do what is counter to their self-interest. Fear makes people succumb to their basest instincts instead of rising to their noblest ambitions. Fear paralyzes us during times when we need to be taking action. House Republicans are afraid of immigration. They are not only afraid of voting on an immigration bill, they are even afraid of introducing legislation on immigration.
Let me give you some examples. June 2013, Congressman Joe Heck says he was going to introduce immigration reform that would address our broken system. In December of 2013, Republican Congressman Heck announced he would not be introducing any immigration bill of any kind.
April 2014. Congressman Joe Barton said he was going to introduce major immigration legislation. The bill was never introduced. Eric Cantor, who just this week claimed that his position on immigration never wavered, said last year he was going to introduce legislation to ``deal with the kids who did not break any laws and themselves came into this country in many cases unbeknownst to them.'' This legislation was also never introduced.
Finally, House Republican leadership has repeatedly announced they ``think we finally have the policy right on immigration.'' But again, we have seen no bill even introduced, much less voted on. House Republicans are so afraid of immigration that they have handed the policy and leadership gavel to Steve King, who compares immigrants to dogs and livestock and who claims immigration is a slow-motion holocaust.
Eric Cantor is actually right that his position on immigration reform never wavered. His rhetoric was often proreform, but his legislative and voting record was always antireform. Cantor never introduced or voted for a single immigration bill that would help a single immigrant. But he loved to vaguely reference the need for immigration reform when asked about it. That has been the real Republican Party position on immigration: pretending to be pro-immigration reform rhetorically, but never, never permit a Republican to actually introduce immigration reform legislation and definitely never allow immigration reform legislation to come to a vote. This is because House Republicans may claim to disagree with Steve King's words, but they certainly do not seem to disagree with Steve King's policy objectives. They do not want immigration reform that will rationalize our legal immigration system and create a path to legality for those who are already here. Instead, they support the failed and tragic policies of self-deportation for the people who are already here, and they want to reduce legal immigration to a trickle for the people who wish to come here and contribute to our society.
Two nights ago, when I watched our gritty U.S. soccer team win an amazing game against Ghana, I saw an amazing team effort coached by an energetic German immigrant whose tactics and decisions helped the United States prevail in the final stages of an incredible, compelling game.
Did Republicans watch the same game and ask: Why is an immigrant coaching our team? These last 2 weeks, I watched the San Antonio Spurs play some of the greatest team basketball anyone has ever seen with players from France, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, Italy, Canada, and, of course, the United States. Did Republicans watch those same games and ask: Who cares about the quality of the basketball being played? Why are immigrants allowed in the NBA?
This is the problem the Republicans face. Republicans have a very important choice to make the next few days. If they continue on the same path they are on now, where they feign sympathy for immigration in their rhetoric but do not vote on or even introduce legislation to fix our broken system, it will be impossible for the average voters to distinguish between any Republican and Steve King. Republican words of sympathy will not matter to people whose families are suffering, whose businesses cannot find the workers they need or whose churches are seeing their members deported. They will know that Republicans are to blame for doing nothing on immigration reform. Even worse, Republicans will get the worst of both worlds in this scenario. Their most strident rightwing voters will actually punish them for their Machiavellian efforts to feign sympathy for immigration reform.
So what is the real answer for Republicans? Well, Lindsey Graham showed us the way by being a man of principle. This weekend he said it best. He said:
I don't think Eric got beat because of his stand on immigration, I think he got beat because of his lack of defining himself on immigration. Republicans nationally will accept an earned pathway to citizenship if you secure the border. For our party to let the 35 percent tell us how to engage on immigration, we will lose a natural ally in the Hispanic community.
That is from Senator Graham who just won his election with 59 percent of the vote, while defending back at home in a conservative Republican State, South Carolina, immigration reform.
In conclusion, to Speaker Boehner, Majority Whip McCarthy, and others in the new House leadership, the choice is yours. Join with us, the evangelical community, the Catholic Church, American farmers, American police chiefs, America's business community, and 65 percent of American voters in supporting tough, fair, practical immigration reform legislation or, alternatively, you can ignore the benefits of immigration reform and continue to fail to address our broken immigration system because of your fear, and you can eventually watch your party go into the dustbin of history. Those are your two choices, Republicans.
There is no doubt that at the moment Steve King is winning. Republicans are implementing his policy objective of inaction to perfection because they are so fearful. But hopefully, just like the U.S. team, House Republicans can overcome their fears, appeal to their more noble aspirations, and we can pull victory from the jaws of defeat at the very end here and pass the immigration reform legislation our country so desperately needs.
I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
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