Mr. Speaker. This first bill that we are considering before us today is not immigration reform. It is. instead. a 2month extension of the current surface transportation authorization. Our transportation system is the lifeblood of our country. It dictates our ability to move and manage not only people but information. ideas. products. industries. commerce. jobs. By failing to pass a longterm transportation reauthorization. which will ensure the security of our highways and transit systems for more than 60 days. we are putting our Nations economic lifeblood in jeopardy. The second bill we will see before us today is not immigration reform. The second bill. instead. is a partisan attempt to inject the ideological priorities of my Republican colleagues into education and research. priorities that are opposed by the very titans of research for whom this bill is ostensibly designed. I will talk more about that in a moment. Of the third bill before us today. I am hopeful. Is it immigration reform? I ask the gentleman from Washington: Is the third bill before us today immigration reform? I am happy to yield to the gentleman for an answer. In reclaiming my time. he is speechless. He is speechless because he knows the truth: the third bill is not immigration reform. The third bill is actually the funding bill for the legislative branch of government. Maybe if the legislative branch of government were actually doing its job we would have an immigration reform bill before us. but. no. my colleague from Washington is speechless because he knows as well as I do that this is not immigration reform. that it is. instead. a funding bill for Members of Congress salaries and the salaries of our staffs. I guess that is more important than securing our border. I guess that is more important to the Republicans than restoring the rule of law.
Keywords matched
immigration