[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 149 (Wednesday, October 23, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H6680]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LET'S WORK TOGETHER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I don't think it is news to my friends on 
the Republican side of the aisle that you don't win every battle around 
here. The place is tough, and occasionally you get knocked down. The 
measure of a man or woman in Congress, or anyplace for that matter, is 
what do you after.
  We all witnessed a political showdown over the past several weeks, 
and now it is time to put it behind us. I challenge my colleagues on 
both sides of the aisle to step up and show the country what you are 
made of, and let us actually legislate on behalf of the American 
people.
  I have heard a lot of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle 
say things like, We don't trust that President; we can't work with this 
President.
  So, Mr. Speaker, does this apply to everything?
  Will there be no legislation until there is a different President in 
2017?
  Well, that doesn't sound very realistic.
  On my side of the aisle, they are already saying, oh, those 
Republicans, they are hard-liners; they will not compromise on 
anything. And when someone does reach across the aisle to say, hey, 
let's work on an issue together, what do we get?
  Hey, why are you helping them?
  I have heard it. When I stood with David Valadao in California, or 
Paul Ryan in Chicago to say immigration reform is an objective we can 
reach in a bipartisan manner, I heard from the Democrats: stop working 
with them, we're trying to defeat them. We want to take the House back.
  Look, I get it. There are millions of dollars to be raised by 
partisan bickering. Your side raised a ton of money off the past 
battle, and my side has too.
  The fact is that if two of us get into a shouting match, it is news; 
and if it gets bad, it will be shown on every channel. But if two of us 
reach an agreement on something, it's not news.
  You know, bipartisanship is something that is much lauded here, but 
it is infrequently applauded and rarely rewarded.
  But here is the thing. The only way we actually get anything done is 
to put aside the shouting matches and work together. I want immigration 
reform to pass; and even though I think almost every single Democrat 
agrees with me, it is still not enough because there are only 201 of 
us.
  We don't run the Rules Committee or set the agenda. The Republicans 
are the majority in the House, so I know I have to work with the other 
side.
  On your side, you say you don't like what the Senate passed. Let's 
not just respond with nothing. Let's craft a House response and put our 
own proposal on the table.
  Those on the other side of the aisle say they don't trust the 
President and can't work with him. Well, okay. Fine. Then work with 
your colleagues on this side of the aisle.
  You know, there are 435 of us. We need 218 votes to pass a bill, and 
the President doesn't get a vote.
  The truth is that even during the shutdown, many on your side of the 
aisle have been drafting proposals that many of us on this side of the 
aisle are willing to work with you on. The question is whether the work 
on a bipartisan basis will be allowed to flourish.
  I want to spend the rest of this Congress working with whoever wants 
to join, in either party, to get immigration reform done.
  Your side needs a little time to recover from the last fight? I get 
that. But with 1,100 deportations every day, we can't wait forever. The 
kids who are losing their moms are not going to wait for you or for me. 
The husbands and the fathers who die in the desert because their wives 
and kids live here don't have any more time to give.
  But you probably ask, Luis, after the battle over health care and 
budget, how can two parties ever work together?
  But, you know, that is exactly what I thought in 1996: How can we 
work together?
  I was here 17 years ago. In 1996, it was Speaker Gingrich who shut 
down the government. But after that, let's remember what happened. We 
passed a series of major bipartisan bills on difficult policy issues.
  Welfare reform was crafted, in part, by a very conservative House, 
and signed by a very liberal President Clinton. He had vetoed the bill 
twice before but, after the shutdown, reached an agreement with the 
Republican majority.
  The Kennedy-Kassenbaum bill was historic, bipartisan legislation on 
health care, and we passed it after the shutdown. We can do the same if 
politicians in both parties are committed to accomplishments over 
campaign talking points. We can pass immigration reform this year.
  We all know that immigration reform is immensely popular with voters 
in both parties who want a political solution to fixing our broken 
immigration system. Diverse constituencies back immigration reform, 
like labor unions and business owners and evangelical leaders and 
Catholic bishops and leaders across the political spectrum.
  Don't think of it as working with President Obama if it makes it 
easier for you. Think of it as doing your job. Think of it as working 
on behalf of the American people, not for an Obama solution, not for a 
Tea Party solution, but for an American solution.

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