[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 176 (Wednesday, November 14, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H13866]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              IMMIGRATION

  (Mrs. NAPOLITANO asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Madam Speaker, since 1886 immigrants to the United 
States have passed the Statue of Liberty, which has inscribed, ``Give 
me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.'' Why is it that now, 
when those huddled masses happen to be brown, the golden door of 
freedom is being slammed shut?
  Immigrants contribute to the economy. They are free thinkers. They 
are hard-driven workers who strive for success, not only for themselves 
and their community but for their families. They come to this country 
because America is a beacon of hope for them. They are looking for a 
better life, just like every immigrant since the Pilgrims landed at 
Plymouth Rock.
  So why do some amongst us feel it necessary to place every obstacle 
possible in their path, to launch bigoted assaults on them, to wrongly 
blame those who work the hardest at the worst jobs for the ills of all 
of our society?
  Immigrants are the history of the United States. They are our past, 
they are our present, and I must not rest until we recognize they are 
part of the future of this great country.

                          ____________________