Session #115 · 2017–19

Speech #CREC-2017-02-06-pt3-PgS954_t3

The Loving family wrote to Attorney Generally Robert Kennedy to help them battle injustice because they believed he would protect their important civil rights values at stake. I am not confident that people hard-pressed in this country, who feel marginalized, will see the office as a potential ally and champion under Senator Sessions. This is particularly the case when we have a President who has been successfully sued in the past for civil rights violations and who makes prejudicial comments about people based on their gender, their religion, their immigrant status, or their disability. Second, immigration. Our immigration policies are critical. We need to fix our laws. In my time in the Senate, Senator Sessions has been the most vocal Senator in opposition to what I believe are reasonable and necessary reforms. His floor comments and his obvious personal passion around this issue are clear, but I think his policies are simply wrong. Immigration does not hurt our economy; it helps it. Jefferson recognized this in the Declaration of Independence. In his Bill of Particulars against King George, he said: We do not want to live under your tyranny. You won't let us have a good immigration system. Jefferson recognized it, and all through the years, the inflow of talent, the blood of innovation and talent and new ideas from immigrants, has been part of what has made our country great. That is why there is such a consensus in favor of immigration reform from the labor unions and the chambers of commerce. The CBO says that it will increases our net worth and GDP. Immigration does not hurt our workers, as Senator Sessions often claims it does. A reform would help our workers by eliminating the ability of people to live and work in the shadows and be paid substandard wages that undercut the wages of others. Senator Sessions' views on immigration even extend to a critical program like the Special Immigrant Visa Program, which grants special protection to foreign citizens, especially those from Afghanistan and Iraq, who have helped our troops on the battlefield. They signed up to help Americans who are in the service. They put their lives at risk for doing so.
Keywords matched
immigration immigrants Immigrant Immigration Visa immigrant

Classification

Target group
Also mentioned
Afghan Iraqi
Sentiment
Positive
Stereotyping
No
Confidence
90%
Model
gemini-2.0-flash
Framing
Economic contributor Humanitarian

Speaker & context

Speaker
TIMOTHY KAINE
Party
D
Chamber
S
State
VA
Gender
Date
2017-02-06
Speech ID
CREC-2017-02-06-pt3-PgS954_t3
Paragraph
#2
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