Speech #1130118128

They didnt become law last time. It is even harder for them to become law when they are packaged together in new and different ways. There is a word for this kind of legislative activity. and it isnt "governing." It is called "pandering." Rather than spinning our wheels. we should have taken up the bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill. I was hoping that I could have gotten the permission under unanimous consent to bring that up. I am confident we have strong support from Democrats and Republicans in this body to pass that bill and to send it on into law. Unfortunately. more than a year after the Senate has passed immigration reform. the House still refuses to even allow a vote on our bipartisan immigration reform bill that secures our borders and restores the rule of law. reduces our deficit. and creates jobs for Americans. instead. the only votes the House has taken this year on the entire topic of immigration have been to subject DREAMerswho grew up here and know no other countryto deportation and send immigrant children fleeing violence back to their countries. where they face possible persecution or death. Rather than continuing to waste the American peoples time and taxpayer money debating recycled measures over and over again. I wanted to give this body. through my unanimous consent request. one more opportunity to tackle an issue that will get larger and harder to deal with the longer we wait. and that is immigration. If there are 10 million people here illegally today. Mr. Speaker. if this body continues to object to every motion we make to bring up a law that would secure our borders and restore the rule of law. there is likely to be 15 million people here illegally in 10 years. You can count on it. This Nation deserves to have secure borders. we deserve to restore the rule of law. and we deserve to reflect our values as a Nation in our immigration system. I know we have the votes for this bill. I urge my colleagues to change their plans for tomorrow and. instead. allow us to come back and pass immigration reform so that we can finally solve this issue. reduce our budget deficit. create jobs for Americans. secure our border. and end this Congress on a positive note. a positive note of moving forward on solving an issue that the American people are screaming out for a solution to rather than rehashing and repackaging special interest bills into new and more sinister forms. Mr. Speaker. if we defeat the previous question.