Speech #1100069058

I said on that day we must come together not as Democrats and Republicans or liberals and conservatives but as statesmen and. in doing so. honor the traditions of the Senate as a body that values reasoning. honest debate. and compromise over sound bites and talking points but especially over the politics of fear. Unfortunately. today. the voices that appealed to that fear and the lowest common denominator won out. Only 12 of our Republican colleagues were willing to stand up and vote to invoke cloture. almost half of those who voted for last years bipartisan immigration bill. Only 12 Republican colleagues were willing to move forward. at least for the final essence of debates and amendments. and to a final vote. which is about half of those who voted last year for immigration reform. Now. personally. I still had serious concerns about the direction of the bill. but I voted to keep it alive because I wanted to work to make it better and because I believe In comprehensive immigration reform as something that is in the national interest and national security of the United States and because Americas promise and its security should not have been snuffed out by one single vote. I said back on that day in May that I could not sign on to the agreement because it tore families apart. and it says to many they are only good enough to work here and give their human capital and slave but never good enough to stay here. But instead of responding to those erstwhile concerns from those of us willing to be supportive of comprehensive immigration reform. the appeal was constantly made to the right of the spectrum. to those who actually achieved some of the things they wanted in the bill but. obviously. never even intended to vote for comprehensive immigration reformnot even to vote to allow it to move forward. As it moved to the right. it got less and less support from the right. Unfortunately. instead of working with those of us who were willing to not only work to improve this bill but also put our votes where our mouths were. they kept giving in to demand after demand from conservative Republicans. and in turn this bill moved further and further to the right. In fact. at least two Members who were at the press conference on May 17 and got things included in the bill voted against keeping this process moving forward by voting against cloture today. Ultimately. in my mind. this came down to a President and a party who was. once again. there for the photo ops and the press conferences but was not willing to roll up their sleeves and do the hard work to Improve this bill and help It move forward for our Nation: a Republican Party that was not about progress but about partisanship. a Republican Party that was not about solving our Nations problems but seeking political gain by stopping progress of any sort in this Senate. the same President who used large amounts of political capital misleading our country into a disastrous war In Iraq. with little political capital on truly improving our Nations security through tough yet practical and comprehensive immigration reform. a President who used political capital on tax cuts for the wealthiest in our country but not on truly meeting our Nations economic needs through fair and comprehensive immigration reform. and it is either a President who has no political capital or one who was not willing to use it. Finally. throughout my life. and most recently on the Senate floor. I have heard the phrase "those people""those people." Those who use that phrase are the voices of division and discrimination. They are the xenophobes who exist today and have existed at different times in our Nations history but whose voices have ultimately been overcome to give way to the greatest successful experiment in the history of mankindthe United States of America that we know today. But the last phrase of Emma Lazaruss poem emblazed on the inner wall of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty says: I lift my lamp beside the golden door! Maybe today that lamp is somewhat dimmer. but it will shine again.