[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 33 (Thursday, February 27, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H2060-H2063]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           IMMIGRATION REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Byrne). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 3, 2013, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Colorado (Mr. Polis) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, we are here today as part of the New 
Democratic Coalition Immigration Task Force, which I am proud to 
cochair along with my colleagues, Representative Garcia and 
Representative Castro.
  I am here to discuss immigration reform and what the path forward is 
for an issue that over 70 percent of the American people agree, an 
issue that right now threatens the security of this country, that 
continues to cost taxpayers money; but with the passage of a simple 
bill that already more than two-thirds of the Senate has supported 
would reduce our deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars, finally 
secure our border, restore the rule of law within our country, and 
ensure that, never again, will we have millions of people in this 
country here illegally.
  More than a year ago, the New Democratic Coalition helped pave the 
way for immigration reform with the release of detailed principles on 
comprehensive immigration reform.
  Our principles express support for commonsense reforms that reduce 
bureaucratic backlogs, reunite families, create jobs for Americans, and 
spur competitiveness.
  In August, we issued a letter to Speaker John Boehner, demanding that 
he introduce a comprehensive immigration reform bill; and if he failed 
to do so, we would introduce our own.
  Well, no bill was forthcoming, so New Democratic Coalition members 
worked with a diverse group of colleagues on both sides of the aisle to 
introduce the House's only bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform 
bill, H.R. 15, last October.
  Since then, we have met with countless stakeholders, from business 
owners to law enforcement to agriculture to the faith-based community, 
all who support moving the ball forward and support our bill, H.R. 15. 
Businesses, tech companies, faith leaders, and our voters are demanding 
action on fixing our broken immigration system.
  Yet despite a level of consensus rarely seen in our country on an 
issue--and rarely seen in Washington on an issue--the loudest, most 
extreme voices on the other side of the aisle have thus far been 
successful in preventing this body from acting and solving a problem 
that the American people want solved.
  One of my Republican colleagues even equated DREAMers--young de facto 
Americans who grew up in this country and know no other country and 
want nothing more than to pay taxes and contribute to make America 
better--one of my Republican colleagues compared DREAMers with drug 
mules, with disparaging remarks about the size of their calves; and he 
continues to refuse to apologize for his hateful comments.
  These kinds of deplorable, intolerant remarks are dividing our 
country, but they should not divide this Chamber. They should not 
prevent a commonsense bill from coming forward.
  House Republicans need to reject the offensive and unproductive 
rhetoric of some of their Members and finally show real leadership on 
immigration reform that a majority of Republican voters support.
  The only floor vote that we have even had this entire legislative 
session on immigration was a vote to defund the Deferred Action 
program, to defund the docket program, a vote to deport DREAMers, to 
not allow DREAMers to get right with the law and get a provisional 
renewable working permit. Sadly, that amendment passed the House.
  We were able to stop it. It didn't happen. The docket program 
continues. We encourage President Obama to extend the docket program.
  But just to show the American people where Congress is and what the 
Republicans have done, the only immigration bill that they have even 
voted on was to deport DREAMers. The House majority can't continue to 
sit by and allow extremists to define their party.

                              {time}  1930

  Now, the release of immigration principles by the Republicans on 
reform was a very positive first step, and we encourage the Republicans 
to work with Democrats to construct a bill based on these principles, 
many of which we believe are consistent with those of the New 
Democratic Coalition and consistent with H.R. 15. We are happy to look 
at new ideas built on the principles that we can establish together and 
a commitment to fix our broken immigration system.
  But, again, our patience can't last forever. If there is continued 
Republican failure to bring a bill forward, we will have no option but 
to take out a discharge petition on the only bipartisan bill that 
exists. If the Speaker won't lead, I hope that the membership of this 
body will lead, take the agenda into our own hands, and allow a vote 
that will pass, a bill that will then pass the Senate and be signed by 
the President.
  We are joined by a cochair on the New Dem Immigration Task Force, a 
leader in the fight to reform our immigration system, the 
Representative from Texas (Mr. Castro.)
  I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Thank you, Congressman Polis, and thank you for 
your leadership on the issue of comprehensive immigration reform.
  I am proud to join you and Congressman Garcia of Florida as cochairs 
of the New Dem Coalition advocating for comprehensive immigration 
reform. As you mentioned, there are very compelling moral and economic 
reasons for the United States Congress to pass comprehensive 
immigration reform in the year 2014.
  We know, for example, that there are a handful of American 
industries, four or five or six major American industries, that 
literally would not exist the way they do and would not be nearly as 
productive as they are but for immigrant labor--both legal and 
undocumented immigrant labor. For example, we know that about 40 
percent of the tech businesses that have been started in Silicon Valley 
have been started by foreign-born persons, by immigrants. We know, for 
example, that with respect to the agricultural industry, they self-
report that 50 percent of their workers are undocumented, which 
probably means that 75 percent of their workers are undocumented.

[[Page H2061]]

  So, on everything from the high-tech industry to the agriculture 
industry, construction and other trades, we can appreciate, especially 
myself coming from the great State of Texas, that Texas does more trade 
than any other State in the Nation. It has the longest border with 
Mexico of any State in the Nation. We can appreciate the role that 
immigrants have played in our society and continue to play in our 
economy.
  I want to share with you, Congressman, just a quick story of an 
immigrant that I met recently back home in San Antonio, because I know 
that over the course of this debate there has been a lot of 
divisiveness and some disparaging remarks that have been made about 
immigrants. The overwhelming majority of these folks are not people who 
come to America to do us any harm or to commit crimes. These are people 
who are fundamentally seeking a better life in the way that, throughout 
the generations, people have come here to this country.
  A few months back, right around the time of the government shutdown, 
I went back home to San Antonio. I was home for about 36 hours, and my 
hair had gotten too long, so I decided to get a haircut. It was a 
Sunday, and the place that I usually go to was closed. So I drove 
around and I came to a strip mall. I was looking for a place that might 
be open.
  I came across this place called J Cuts. I went inside and sat down. 
There was a woman who welcomed me into the chair, and she started 
telling me her story as she was cutting my hair. She told me the story 
of how she arrived in the United States. She said that she had come 
from Latin America I guess about 25 years ago, that she had come in a 
raft of inner tubes across the Rio Grande. She had ended up marrying--
and I imagine, marrying an American citizen--and becoming a U.S. 
citizen.
  This woman said that she worked for a few years cleaning houses and 
cleaning businesses. She had often been cheated out of money by her 
employers. She mentioned that one job that had promised her $1,000 
turned into $100. After that, she worked at Fantastic Sams and 
Supercuts, a few haircutting chains, and that is how she learned how to 
speak English.
  But the long and short of it is, eventually this woman, Ms. Gonzalez, 
came to own her own hair salon, became an entrepreneur, and was now 
employing other people. She said her brothers who also immigrated also 
were businessowners now.
  So those are very promising and not atypical stories of immigrants 
who come here and are very productive members of our society and who 
have a lot to contribute.
  It has been my hope throughout this debate that, in the rhetoric that 
comes out of the United States Congress, we will realize and 
acknowledge that immigrants play such an important role in the life of 
our Nation and that they always have, that this is a nation of 
immigrants and continues to be a nation of immigrants.
  I would also say that there is a scarier day in America than a time 
when everybody wants to come here. The scarier day is a time when 
nobody wants to come here, and that is a day that we should truly be 
worried about.
  Mr. POLIS. I thank the gentleman from Texas.
  The strength of our Nation, a nation built on immigrants, is that the 
best, brightest, and hardest working from across the world want to move 
here. The countries that have a bigger problem today are those that are 
losing those people--not us, the country that stands to gain some of 
the best, most highly motivated and talented people from across the 
world, just as my great-grandparents came to these shores to make our 
country stronger. I know that, by working together, we can accomplish 
that.
  Have you ever seen the unprecedented degree of coalition behind 
immigration reform? Have you ever seen agriculture, the faith-based 
community, and the business community--and labor and business 
together--on an issue in your time in public service or before? Have 
you ever seen that on an issue?
  Mr. CASTRO of Texas. No. You raise an incredible point. I served 10 
years, five terms in the Texas Legislature. This is my first term in 
Congress.
  But consider this: Last year, in 2013, we had what was, on record, 
the least productive Congress in American history. Something like only 
58 bills went to the President's desk. So you can imagine in this place 
there is a lot of gridlock. The wheels, essentially, in 2013 came to a 
halt.
  But of all of the major issues, immigration reform is the one that 
had the most bipartisan support and the strongest support. And consider 
this for a second: I think it was sometime in the summer the President 
of the United States had a press conference over at the White House, 
and he had standing on either side of him the head of the U.S. Chamber 
of Commerce and the head of the AFL-CIO. Now, think about that for a 
second. How often do you have the head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce 
and the head of the AFL-CIO standing next to each other agreeing on 
anything? But that is how deep and how profound the wide range of 
support is for comprehensive immigration reform.

  And it is not just business and labor, it is people from throughout 
the political spectrum: the evangelical community that, quite honestly, 
has been fairly conservative, so the religious community and the social 
advocates who are ordinarily on the left. It has just been a wide array 
of people from throughout the political spectrum who have come out in 
support of comprehensive reform, which really begs the question of why 
Congress has not moved on this issue when, on the other side, there has 
been no organized opposition.
  There has been a clear indication that a majority of Americans 
support comprehensive immigration reform, and so it has left a lot of 
Americans wondering why on Earth Congress can't pass comprehensive 
immigration reform.
  Mr. POLIS. I think most Americans, like myself, are somewhat offended 
that we don't have the rule of law in this country. There are 
millions--10 million, 12 million. We don't even know how many people 
that are here illegally. We don't know where they are. We don't know 
what they are doing. It is a security risk. It is an economic risk. Are 
they paying taxes? There have been studies that show they pay some; 
they might not be paying others. We need to fix this.
  I have gone to town halls in the most conservative part of my 
district, and I say, is there anyone here who thinks the immigration 
system is working great? I haven't met a single constituent who does. 
They want it fixed. They want to make sure that people are required to 
get right with the law and get in line behind people who did it the 
right way and are already in line for eventual green card or 
citizenship.
  That is exactly what the bipartisan bill proposes. It provides a way 
that people can register with the law, mandatory workplace 
authentication to ensure that anybody who gets a job going forward has 
at least the provisional status that allows them to have that job. Only 
about under 10 percent--I think it is 8 or 9 percent--of companies in 
this country use E-Verify. We need to improve E-Verify. There is money 
to do that in the bill to make sure it is correct more often. And then, 
of course, we need to make it mandatory along with the route, of 
course, for the people that need to go to work the next day to have the 
provisional permit that they need to go to work the next day and get in 
line behind other Americans, other people that are in line for 
citizenship or a green card.
  There are a lot of misperceptions out there about the bill. One thing 
that is important to talk about is that this bill that is being 
proposed, the bipartisan immigration reform, H.R. 15, as well as the 
Senate bill, don't confer citizenship on anybody. Zero people are made 
citizens under this bill. That is as it should be. You don't want to 
reward illegal behavior. What you want to do is say get right with the 
law, pay a fine, a penalty, you violated the law.
  What should the penalty be? Pay that fine, register, and get right 
with the law. And do you know what? If you demonstrate that you have 
become a productive American, you learn English, you have a job, and 
you support your family, in 13 years, 12 years, 15 years, you can stand 
for American citizenship, take a test and eventually become an American 
citizen.
  But no one should be rewarded for violating the law under this bill, 
and

[[Page H2062]]

no one is. What it does is it creates the line. What is so frustrating 
today is people say, ``Oh, why don't they get in line?'' when, in 
reality, there is no line. If you are a parent of an American child who 
is growing up here, there is no line for you to be gone for 20 years 
while your child is being raised without you. That doesn't make any 
sense. You have to create a way that we can do this within the system 
of law that is to the benefit of the American people, prevents people 
who don't have documentation from undermining wages for other 
Americans, makes sure that they can buy their own health care so that 
taxpayers aren't left on the hook for health care for people that can't 
even buy insurance if they wanted.
  There are practical reasons that this saves money for the average 
American family. This helps push up wages for the average American 
family. It reduces our deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars. We 
could use that as a pay-for. We always look for ways--we could use that 
as a pay-for for a tax cut for the middle class. We could use it as a 
pay-for to fund universal preschool. We could use it as a pay-for to 
ensure that we have the military preparedness we need to meet the 
challenges of the 21st century or to honor our veterans who have served 
us in our recent conflicts.
  I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. CASTRO of Texas. You bring up a wonderful point, which is that 
you have got--we have, in our Nation, 10 to 15 million people, 
undocumented immigrants, who essentially are off the radar that we 
can't account for. And so a large part of this bill is bringing those 
people out of the shadows and making sure that we can account for their 
activities, making sure that they are paying taxes and that they are 
able to purchase health care insurance.
  Right now, as you know in Colorado, and certainly we know in Texas, 
when somebody shows up at a county hospital and they can't afford to 
pay for their services, their emergency services, all of us, as 
taxpayers, end up paying those bills, and that includes a lot of 
undocumented folks. And those services, of course, have to be provided. 
Everybody needs to be provided emergency services. So this would be a 
way to essentially bring them under the grid, understand who they are, 
and bring them into society's fold. Those are definitive benefits of 
the bill that we propose.
  Mr. POLIS. Another sector it would be great for is the real estate 
industry and homes. Many immigrants who don't have their status 
currently are forced to rent, sometimes under the table. They would be 
able to finance and buy their own homes, helping to revitalize areas 
that have high vacancy rates and lots of foreclosures. We have areas in 
Colorado that continue to be hit by foreclosures. We would love to 
introduce new buyers to those markets and help ensure that families 
have good, stable homes to raise their American children in.

                              {time}  1945

  Another thing that I think a lot of Americans don't realize is that 
in many cases the children of these families are American nationals. So 
you might have in one family two Americans, one person with a green 
card, and two that don't have paperwork. So what should the solution 
be? Should it be to send all of them to another country? Are you going 
to send an American citizen who has never even been to another country 
back to another country because they are an 8-year-old? Are you going 
to force them into the foster care system because you are just taking 
the parent?
  This country is about family values. Immigration reform should unite 
families, and we should celebrate what is the backbone of our strength 
as a Nation, the American family.
  We are joined by another leader in the battle to replace our broken 
immigration system with one that works for our country, the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Cardenas), and I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. CARDENAS. I thank the distinguished member from Colorado.
  I would like to explain a little bit about why I believe we have the 
greatest country on the planet. It is because people like my parents 
with only a first- and second-grade education, without much opportunity 
in the country that they were born and raised in, started a new life 
here in the United States of America, which gave me and my brothers and 
sisters, all 11 of us, more opportunities here in America than we could 
have had in my parents' home country.
  Every day I am in this sacred Chamber serving the American people, I 
count my blessings. I personally know what comprehensive immigration 
reform can accomplish, not only for 11 million undocumented people who 
are already our neighbors and friends but for American businesses and 
the U.S. economy.
  I mentioned about my mother and father with a first- and second-grade 
education and how their children got to go to college. We have doctoral 
degrees and master's degrees and bachelor's degrees. Every single one 
of our households pays more in taxes today than my parents ever made in 
gross income in any given year. I point that out because this country 
was founded on immigrants. It is that immigrant spirit that today is 
creating more jobs and American-born citizens. This is a country where 
people are given hope. This is a country where people come from other 
parts of the world, and they kiss the ground that they have arrived on 
and they love our country. They love this country. They love what they 
have made now their country, and they are contributors to what is great 
about this country, the greatest economy in the world.
  House Republicans have a choice to make on immigration reform. Are 
they going to do what is right for Americans, or will they let anti-
immigrant Members of this Congress, who absurdly call good students 
right here in America, the DREAMers, they call them drug mules, will 
they let these people be the messengers of their party about 
immigration reform?
  That is why the Chamber of Commerce and more than 630 business 
organizations are urging us, Congress, to modernize our broken 
immigration system. We must create a less cumbersome path to legal 
immigration. Improving our outdated system will encourage long-term 
success. Comprehensive immigration reform will attract young foreign 
workers who will help reduce the deficit by as much as $1.2 trillion 
over the next 20 years. That improves America. They will help the 
economy grow by nearly 5 percent over the next 20 years. They will 
jump-start housing recovery, adding $68 billion every year to our 
American construction economy.
  American wages will increase, and legal immigrants will add more than 
$100 billion in tax revenue to benefit all Americans.
  Moreover, attracting the best and brightest talent abroad will cement 
America's competitiveness in the global economy for generations to 
come. We need to fix this broken immigration system. We need to stop 
sending these bright Ph.D.'s who come to love America, who get the 
degrees, and then we just send them home when they want to stay here 
and create a company that will employ American citizens, create wealth 
for American citizens right here on our soil.
  Forty percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or 
their children. Tech giants like Google, eBay, and Intel were founded 
by first- or second-generation Americans. These pioneering companies 
employ millions of Americans. Alongside American-born citizens, 
immigrants have spurred significant innovation and conducted critical 
research, pushing the United States forward.
  I urge Congress to tackle the bureaucratic immigration backlog, 
reunite families, and supercharge the economy for all Americans. 
Comprehensive immigration reform must happen, and it must be done well, 
creating a modern system that is fair and efficient for everyone. A 
comprehensive immigration reform bill will require people who came here 
undocumented, yes, to pay fines; yes, to learn English; and will secure 
our borders even more than they are secured today. That is the kind of 
comprehensive immigration bill that I think every American wants to see 
happen. Unfortunately, the leadership of this House of Congress is 
unwilling to put that bill on the floor. That is why I am here today, 
to urge commonsense action on the floor of the United States Congress 
so we can do what is best for the economy of the United States of 
America, and that is to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

[[Page H2063]]

  Mr. POLIS. I thank the gentleman from California, who has been a 
tremendous leader in the fight to fix our broken immigration system, 
for his heartfelt comments.
  I wanted to quote from last week a Wall Street Journal op-ed that 
criticized the Republicans' failure to act. It is not every day that 
The Wall Street Journal criticizes Republicans with harsh words. It is 
kind of one of those ``man bites dog'' stories, but they didn't mince 
words. The Wall Street Journal wrote:

       Republicans have killed immigration reform for now, but a 
     recent study shows in the real economy it is needed. The 
     irony is that many Republicans who support handouts to 
     farmers oppose reforms that wouldn't cost taxpayers a dime 
     and would help the economy.

  So rather than help farmers succeed in the private sector by hiring 
employees they want, the Republicans are seeking to keep them on the 
public dole, giving them taxpayer money rather than allowing them to 
operate in the marketplace and sell their products at the market.
  The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that the Senate 
comprehensive bill, which H.R. 15 is based on, would raise wages for 
Americans by $470 billion, create an average of 120,000 jobs for 
American citizens, and increase the growth of our GDP by 3.3 percent.
  Polls continue to show that vast majorities of the American people 
support immigration reform--Republicans, Independents, Democrats, every 
demographic, every State supports immigration reform. Congress' failure 
to act is becoming inexcusable. Look, if the Republican majority puts 
together a bill based on the principles they laid out, let's have a 
floor discussion, and let's get something done. If they fail to fill 
the promising words of those principles with an actual bill, then we 
will take the only bipartisan bill we have, H.R. 15, and file to 
discharge it. What does that mean? That is the only way that the 
membership of the House of Representatives can bring a bill to the 
floor without the Speaker's blessing. We would love to work through the 
Speaker. We challenge the Speaker to lead. We applaud, and our new Dem 
coalition put out a statement applauding the immigration principle, 
saying we can find common ground and pass a bill. But there needs to be 
a bill. If there is not, let's move forward with the one we have, which 
would pass tomorrow on the floor of the House.
  I am honored to yield to a leader in the fight to reform immigration, 
a cochair of the New Democratic Coalition Immigration Task Force, my 
colleague, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Garcia).
  Mr. GARCIA. I thank the gentleman from Colorado.
  There should be no question by now that immigration reform is good 
for America, and Americans want immigration reform. Nearly 80 percent 
of Americans agree, and up to 70 percent of Republicans support reform 
with a pathway to citizenship. The issue is not simply about justice 
and fairness. It is about ensuring America's economic prosperity.
  In Florida alone, legalizing all the currently undocumented 
immigrants would generate $1.3 billion of new tax revenue and create 
97,000 new jobs.
  Mr. Speaker, fixing our broken immigration system will help small 
businesses expand, foster innovation, increase productivity, raise 
wages, and help create thousands of jobs. Comprehensive immigration 
reform makes all Americans better, makes our country richer, and makes 
opportunity for all.
  Mr. Speaker, one of the great tragedies of some countries is they 
fail to realize what they are truly good at. If there is something that 
America is better at than any other Nation, it is making Americans. 
Throughout the history of this great Nation, generation after 
generation, we have made new Americans better Americans and a greater 
America.
  The statement Mr. Polis mentioned earlier referring to DREAMers as 
drug mules was ludicrous, but doubling down on those remarks was 
downright appalling. You know, the gentleman from Iowa not only offends 
DREAMers, offends the undocumented, he offends all Americans. In 
defending this statement, claims have been made that detractors only 
criticize the choice of language, and then he goes further by saying 
those who attack him simply won't engage on the facts.
  Well, yes, the choice of words is offensive, and as the son of an 
immigrant, I am offended, but the claims are also patently false. They 
shouldn't be an excuse for not moving immigration reform.
  I want to thank my colleagues tonight, and I want to thank the 
Speaker for the time. The time has come to pass immigration reform. The 
opportunity is now. Let us not wait. It hurts our country.
  Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________