It is a refreshingly bipartisan amendment. and that Is because it is the right thing to do. This bill is well intentioned. It talks about the legitimate problem. which is illegal immigration. Unfortunately. it goes too far because it tries to make changes in legal immigration. We do not have a problem with legal immigration. and as I listened to the debate. I have not heard one articulated. The fact of the matter is we are all immigrants. We are all the descendants of immigrants. some voluntary. and some. like myself. on an involuntary basis. But the point is we all came to America. America is a beacon to immigrants. But this bill would reduce legal immigration by 40 percent over 5 years. and yet there has been no rationale presented to justify why we should shut people out of our country. why we should pull families apart. Why are we doing this? This bill is not trying to increase immigration. I realize we cannot accept everyone. but there is no reason to significantly reduce the level of immigration. There are those who want to suggest immigrants are a burden on our society. Not legal immigrants. They earn $240 billion. they pay $90 billion in taxes. They only consume $5 billion in benefits. Clearly. we need legal immigrants. We ought to vote for this amendment.
Identified stereotypes
The speaker states that 'we are all immigrants' or descendants of immigrants.