Speech #1140064488

Mr. President. a year ago today. in a nationwide address. President Obama announced a series of measures to improve our broken immigration system. He outlined efforts to focus scarce resources on identifying and deporting those people who pose a danger to our communities. to modernize our legal immigration system. and to provide temporary relief from the threat of deportation for hardworking. lawabiding members of our communities. For many. the Presidents announcement offered at last a hope for stability. It acknowledged the longstanding presence and contributions of immigrants to our country. But the Presidents announcement also underscored the real human consequences of the House of Representatives failing to allow a vote to reform our immigration laws. Importantly. it highlighted the impracticality of deporting 11 million undocumented immigrants. Many of them have strong family ties in the United States and a deep desire to become fully integrated in our country. They are mothers and fathers. sisters and brothers. sons and daughters. To suggest that we can simply remove them is unrealistic and it would conflict with fundamental American values. The Presidents Executive action is no substitute for legislation. He reminded critics of that very fact during his address. pointing out that the commonsense. responsible solution to the problems in our immigration system is to pass a comprehensive reform bill. A year later. the Republicanled Senate has failed to debate. let alone pass meaningful immigration reform. Instead. it has repeatedly taken up divisive and partisan proposals that do not reflect a desire to fix what we all agree is a broken system. These political gimmicks are not serious attempts to address an issue as important as immigration and could not be more different from what the Democraticled Senate accomplished in 2013 when we passed a bipartisan immigration bill supported by 68 Senators. During the Senate Judiciary Committees consideration of the Border Security. Economic Opportunity. and Immigration Modernization Act. I convened multiple hearings. and we heard from 42 witnesses. Government officials and individuals representing a range of perspectivesincluding law enforcement. civil rights. labor. faith. business. and State and local governmentstestified about the challenges confronting our current immigration system. We heard the powerful testimony of witnesses such as Jose Antonio Vargas and Gaby Pacheco who pressed the urgent need for immigration reform. The compelling stories of DREAMers. young immigrants brought to this country as children. who have grown up as Americans and have every desire to make meaningful contributions to their communities. continue to inspire. Many of them have qualified for the temporary relief provided by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. DACA. program. which has established a path for them to become our next generation of teachers. engineers. public servants. and doctors. Our Senatepassed. comprehensive bill included the DREAM Act. an important measure that would have provided a longlasting solution to the problems these courageous young individuals face. acknowledging that they deserve to be part of our Nations future. The Senatepassed bill would have addressed many of the injustices in our current immigration system. It was a remarkable example of all that we can accomplish when we actually focus on the hard job of legislating. But the Republicanled House of Representatives blocked that effort.