Speech #CREC-2017-02-06-pt3-PgS943_t26

It still hasn't passed the House. It has never even gotten a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives. Senator Sessions claimed during that debate that our bill would have ``dramatically increased incidence of criminal alien violence, officially legalizing dangerous offenders, while handcuffing immigration officers from doing their jobs.'' He claimed it would have legalized ``thousands of dangerous criminals while making it more difficult for our officers to identify public safety and national security threats.'' Senator Sessions claimed our bill would lead to a ``huge increase in immigration,'' invite a flood of immigrants into our Nation who would steal jobs from ``struggling American workers.'' These claims are demonstrably untrue. If our bill had become law, we would have secured our borders, we would have bolstered internal security, we would have better protected American workers, and we would have strengthened our economy. Contrary to his characterization of what was in that bill, the 2013 bill provided far greater security than President Trump's plan. The first two words in the title of that bill were ``border security.'' That has been completely ignored by the critics. It has been completely ignored by people who want to make an issue out of this in national campaigns. But the reality is it provided billions of dollars toward new technologies to monitor the border. It called for the building of a 700-mile fence. By the way, none of the rest of it would come to pass until we took care of the border. Nearly 20,000 new Border Patrol agents--four times more than ordered by President Trump and double the current number--and not paid for by raising taxes on the American people at our border with Mexico, not paid for in a way that would destroy our trading relationship with Mexico, but paid for by fees that people were paying as they were becoming lawful in the United States of America. It had protections in the bill for American workers to ensure that employers hired American labor first. I know he objected to this, and I understand we had a difference of opinion, but the bill included a tough but fair path to citizenship, requiring people to go through background checks as part of a long path to citizenship. During the Presidential campaign, Senator Sessions advised President- Elect, now-President Trump on immigration policy. In fact, my understanding is the President's immigration Executive orders-- including one being challenged in court--mirror Senator Sessions' positions. These positions are antithetical to our history, to our values, to whom we are as a country. Last Friday was the highlight of my year.