[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 69 (Thursday, May 16, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3537-S3538]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           IMMIGRATION REFORM

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, 6 short years ago the prospects for a 
bipartisan solution to America's broken immigration system seemed 
bleak. Despite support from congressional Democrats and a Republican 
President, an immigration reform proposal had been defeated on a 
procedural vote. Let's say that again. Despite support from 
congressional Democrats and a Republican President, we couldn't get 
enough Republicans in the Senate to move forward on a reform proposal. 
It was defeated, I repeat, on a procedural vote in the Senate.
  But one man, who was a long-time member of the Judiciary Committee 
and who had been chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees 
and Border Security for decades--Senator Ted Kennedy--reminded us all 
the reform for which he had fought so hard would pass one day and that 
day could not be far off. This is what he said when that bill was 
defeated:

       America always finds a way to solve its problems, expand 
     its frontiers, and move closer to its ideals. It is not 
     always easy, but it is the American way. . . . I believe we 
     will soon succeed where we failed today, and that we will 
     enact the kind of comprehensive reform that our ideals and 
     our national security demand.


[[Page S3538]]


  Ted Kennedy said that in 2007. He always spoke from back here, and I 
can still hear his booming voice, and I can hear him saying this. Our 
friend Ted Kennedy was right, and I believe the time for commonsense 
immigration reform has come. I am sorry Senator Kennedy is not alive to 
see the widespread bipartisan support for the legislation being 
considered today in the Judiciary Committee, legislation that I will 
shortly bring before the full Senate. Senator Kennedy would be very 
satisfied with the efforts of the Gang of 8--four Democrats and four 
Republicans.
  Even though Ted Kennedy was known as one of America's great 
progressives, his legacy is that he worked with liberals, 
conservatives, Independents--he worked with everyone--to get work done. 
He always was willing to set aside partisanship, and that is what the 
Gang of 8 has done and that is why he would like this so much.
  This Gang of 8 has addressed a critical issue facing our Nation, and 
he would applaud the work of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the 
leadership of his long-time friend he served with on that committee 
for, oh, it must be four decades. Kennedy and Leahy, they did a lot of 
work together, and Senator Leahy has done so much in this committee--
work that he has done in the last several weeks to refine and perfect 
the reasonable proposal of the Gang of 8.
  So it is gratifying to see the momentum behind commonsense reforms 
that will make our country safer and help 11 million undocumented 
immigrants get right with the law. Although neither Republicans nor 
Democrats will support each and every proposal or aspect of this 
legislation, it is reassuring to see the diverse coalition that has 
formed in support of real reform, commonsense reform--reform that 
improves our dysfunctional legal immigration system, reform that 
continues to secure our borders, reform that requires 11 million 
undocumented people to pass a criminal background check, and pay fines 
and taxes to start on the path to earn their citizenship. We can't do 
this piecemeal, and we can't do it without a pathway to earning 
citizenship.
  The thorough and open process underway in the Judiciary Committee is 
exemplary of how the Senate should work. So far the committee has 
considered 62 amendments to the original proposal, some from Democrats 
and some from Republicans. In fact, the committee has adopted 12 
Republican amendments, including measures to strengthen the border and 
improve our legal immigration system.
  The Senate completed work on important water resource legislation 
yesterday--a lot is going on in the Senate--and we are now going to 
begin consideration of a crucial piece of legislation dealing with 
agriculture. I commend and applaud the chairman of that committee 
Debbie Stabenow. She is a very good legislator. They got the bill out 
of that committee in a very quick fashion. So I repeat, I admire what 
she has done. She also has a new ranking member there, Thad Cochran 
from Mississippi, who is a fine man and a good legislator.
  As I have said, as soon as it is ready, I am going to bring that 
immigration legislation to the floor. We are going to start on the farm 
bill Monday, and I am going to bring the immigration bill to the floor 
regardless of whether we have completed action on the farm bill. 
Although immigration is a complex and controversial issue that deserves 
ample time for thoughtful debate and consideration, it is also too 
important to delay action any longer.
  As a Senator from Nevada and whose father-in-law was born in Russia 
and immigrated to the United States, I have witnessed firsthand the 
heartbreak of our broken immigration system. I see the heartbreak it 
has caused for immigrants and their families. So this issue is very 
personal to me, as I have just indicated, and it is very personal to 
every immigrant family striving to build a better life in America. That 
is why they came here.
  The time has come for permanent solutions--solutions that are tough 
but fair, solutions that fix our broken legal immigration system, 
solutions that punish unscrupulous employers that exploit immigrants 
and drag down wages for every worker in America, solutions that pull 11 
million people out of the shadows so they can pay taxes, learn English, 
and get right with the law, solutions that put them on the path to 
citizenship so they can contribute fully to their communities and to 
this country.
  I will do everything in my power to have this bill become law. I am 
confident the time is right. As Senator Kennedy put it, the kind of 
comprehensive reform that our ideals and our national security demand.

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