I called my mother last evening to tell her the news. She celebrated her 95th birthday in July. and let me just say that yesterdays action by the Senate has made her extremely happy. We may well ask. what has all this to do with immigration? Well. my mothers grandmother. my greatgrandmother. was also named Rose. She was born in County Wexford. and she made that grim trip to America during the Irish potato famine of the 1840s. In a sense. they were the boat people of their era. and those who survived that perilous crossing called the Atlantic Ocean the "Bowl of Tears." And so my ancestor. that 19th century Rose of Ireland. found her way to Boston. where she met another Irish immigrant. named Thomas Fitzgerald. And they had a son named John Fitzgerald. who became a customs clerk. a State senator. a Congressman. and then mayor of Boston. And he had a daughter whom he named Rose. and whom he called his Irish Rose. We. all of us. are a nation of immigrants. and I hope that all of us. as we vote on this legislation. are mindful of that great heritage.
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