[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 63 (Monday, May 7, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2919-S2920]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               RECOGNIZING 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF NUMBERSUSA

 Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I wish to recognize the 15th 
anniversary of NumbersUSA, a national grassroots organization that 
advocates for immigration policies that seek to serve the national 
interest.
  NumbersUSA was formed in 1997 by Roy Beck, a former journalist who 
has been recognized by the Houston Chronicle as ``one of the five 
leading thinkers in the national immigration debate.'' Under his 
leadership, NumbersUSA has grown from a mostly Internet-based 
organization of about 2,000 grassroots members to nearly 1.3 million 
activists, giving a voice to American citizens on the important issue 
of immigration and securing our border.
  Those who were in Congress during the 2006 and 2007 debates on 
comprehensive immigration reform will confirm just how effective 
NumbersUSA is. NumbersUSA was an active leader in an outgunned 
coalition that stood up to virtually all the elites in Washington. The 
big lobbies pulled out all the stops, spent millions of dollars, and 
bore down hard in their push for mass amnesty. But Goliath fell to the 
grassroots David, whose faxes, e-mails, rallies, visits to our offices, 
and phone calls registered the clear message that the American people 
would not accept Washington rewarding lawbreaking. The overwhelming 
grassroots response actuated by the NumbersUSA coalition was most 
evident when citizens called Capitol Hill in such volume that it shut 
down the Senate's telephone system.
  NumbersUSA approaches the important and sensitive issue of 
immigration by emphasizing the number of immigrants that are lawfully 
admitted to the United States. Their approach is captured in a 
statement prominently placed on their website: ``To talk about changing 
immigration numbers is to say nothing against the individual immigrants 
in this country. Rather, it is about deciding how many foreign citizens 
living in their own countries right

[[Page S2920]]

now should be allowed to immigrate in the future'' and ``about 
protecting and enhancing the United States' unique experiment in 
democracy for all Americans, including recent immigrants, regardless of 
their particular ethnicity.''
  I commend NumbersUSA for speaking out effectively on these important 
issues for America. Their voice has added a valuable perspective to the 
discussion. I congratulate them on a successful first 15 years and wish 
them even greater success over its next 15 years.

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