[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 162 (Thursday, December 9, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2101]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    DEVELOPMENT, RELIEF, AND EDUCATION FOR ALIEN MINORS ACT OF 2010

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. KURT SCHRADER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 8, 2010

  Mr. SCHRADER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the general goals 
and ideals of the DREAM Act.
  I agree with the principles of giving aspiring students the ability 
to follow their dreams, complete college, and contribute to our society 
and economy. Ultimately, America will benefit from their ambition and 
hard work as they earn their degree and citizenship.
  However, I believe passing the DREAM Act outside of comprehensive 
immigration reform is ill advised.
  Our immigration system is terribly broken. As a small business owner 
and farmer, before coming to serve the people of Oregon's Fifth 
Congressional District as their Representative, I know the current 
system does not work for the economic engines of Oregon.
  It is not fair to small businesses to ask them to act as the focal 
point for enforcement; that is the job of the Federal Government 
through Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The current system is 
especially unfair to our farmers, who do not have enough access to 
legal migrant workers to work the land. I support revamping employment 
verification and the AgJobs bill which, like the DREAM Act are vital to 
any successful comprehensive immigration reform package but do not work 
on their own.
  In 2008, the Coalition for a Working Oregon released a report 
prepared by a professor at Oregon State University. The findings 
suggest the loss of undocumented workers in Oregon would lead to the 
loss of an additional 76,000 jobs for legal workers in Oregon. This 
drop in economic activity would cost the State of Oregon as much as 
$656 million in revenue and lower small business income by eight-point-
five percent. Oregon's economy and state government cannot sustain such 
losses. We must look at the broader economic impact of policy decisions 
and do what is best for the United States and the American worker.
  Our immigration system needs to be reformed, no question, but 
reformed in the right way. If we are to approach immigration reform in 
a piecemeal manner we will actually be making it harder to accomplish 
comprehensive immigration reform. Adding complexity to a broken system 
already in need of reconstruction will not make our job any easier.
  The problems with our immigration system are so large and significant 
that they need to be addressed immediately and together. We need to 
figure out how to address all undocumented people in our country, we 
cannot cherry pick certain groups and advance them ahead of those who 
have followed the rules to obtain citizenship. There is a human face to 
and national interests to address in the problems each group faces.
  Border control, employer verification, exit controls, keeping family 
units intact, protecting our economy and many others are tough issues 
to resolve effectively and fairly. They deserve our time and attention. 
I am not interested in just kicking the can down the road by not taking 
tough votes on immigration reform. My ``no'' vote is a request for 
urgency. The whole immigration system needs to be fixed, not just part 
of it.

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