Lincoln sent a message to General McClellan. His message was this: If you are not going to use your Army. would you send it my way so I can use it? I am reminded of that story when I address this issue on the floor of the Senate this morning because the issue I am going to address is the issue of immigration. I come to this issue with personal and family experience. as so many Members of Congress do when it comes to an issue. In this circumstance. my mother was an immigrant to this country. and she was brought here at the age of 2 from Lithuania. Somehow my grandmother. with my aunt and uncle. made it across the ocean to Baltimore. landing in 1911. and then catching a train heading for the land of opportunityEast St. Louis. IL. which is where many Lithuanian families gathered and where my grandfather was waiting. That was the city of my birth. My mother grew up there speaking Lithuanian and Englishan immigrant family who worked hard and struggled. From family stories. I know they had little or nothing in their lives but the hope that the next generation. their children. would have a better life. That is my story. That is my familys story. but that is Americas story. too. If we chart immigration as an issue in the course of America. we will find something very interesting. Political parties that become antiimmigrant parties eventually wither and disappear. Why? Because they are denying the fundamentals of America. They are saying that we are going to close the doors and pull up the ladder. and we dont need any more of those people. We do need more of those people because the immigrant families who come to this country bring more than just determination and strength and a work ethic. They bring a level of courage that many families cant muster. These are families in different parts of the world who say at some point we are going to America.
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antiimmigrant immigration immigrant