[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 143 (Thursday, November 20, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S6164]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       PROPOSED EXECUTIVE ACTION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I would like to say a few words this 
morning about President Obama's proposed Executive action on 
immigration. I will begin with a quote from the President himself. 
``Democracy is hard,'' he said during a commencement speech in Miami 3 
years ago. ``But it's right. [And] changing our laws means doing the 
hard work of changing minds and changing votes, one by one.''
  As somebody who well understands just how difficult the work of 
changing minds and votes can be, I could not agree more with the 
President's statement. Americans accept that democracy's blessings are 
only made possible by the constraints it imposes--both its legal 
contours and those imposed by popular elections.
  We accept democracy's messiness. We accept that we may not always get 
all of what we want exactly when we want it. Based on more of what the 
President said in Miami, this is something he seemed to understand as 
well. He was talking about immigration that day.
  Here is something else he said on that topic. ``I know [that] some . 
. . wish that I could just bypass Congress and change the law myself. 
But that's not how democracy works.'' Indeed, it is not--all of which 
makes the President's planned Executive action on immigration even more 
jarring.
  If the President truly follows through on this attempt to impose his 
will unilaterally, he will have issued a rebuke to his own stated view 
of democracy. He will have contradicted his past statements on this 
very issue. The instances of President Obama saying that he does not 
have the power to do the kinds of things he now plans to do are almost 
too numerous to list.
  He tried to suggest otherwise last weekend. But a prominent fact 
checker panned the spin as ``Pinocchio-laden'' and clarified that the 
President has been asked specifically about the source of actions that 
he is contemplating now. The President's previous answers seemed to be 
unequivocal: He lacked the legal authority to act, according to the 
President himself.
  As one example, President Obama said last year that Executive action 
was ``not an option,'' because ``[he] would be ignoring the law. 
``There is a path to get this done,'' he said, ``and that is through 
Congress.'' He is right. The action he has proposed would ignore the 
law, would reject the voice of the voters, and would impose new 
unfairness on law-abiding immigrants, all without solving the problem.
  In fact, his action is more likely to make it even worse. We have 
already seen the consequences of Deferred Action for Childhood 
Arrivals, or DACA, his most recent action in this area. It was a factor 
in encouraging young people to risk their lives on a perilous journey 
some would never have even contemplated and some would never complete.
  The effect of this action could be just as tragic. Just as the 
Affordable Care Act had little to do with making health care more 
affordable, slapping the term ``immigration reform'' on something does 
not make it actually immigration reform. Just as with ObamaCare, the 
action the President is proposing is not about solutions, it is not 
about compassion, it seems to be about what a political party thinks 
would make for good politics.
  It seems to be about what the President thinks would be good for his 
legacy. Those are not the motivations that should be driving such 
sweeping action, and I think the President will come to regret the 
chapter history writes if he does move forward because the plan he is 
presenting is more than just--as the President himself has 
acknowledged--an overreach, it is also unfair. What does the President 
have to say to the countless aspiring immigrants who spent literally 
years waiting patiently in line, to the people who played by all the 
rules? Where is his compassion for them? What does the President have 
to say to the millions of Americans who still can't find work in this 
economy? The President can't reach across the aisle to secure a serious 
jobs plan for them, but he is willing to put everything he has into one 
Executive action? Where is the justice?
  There is a larger point too. Some people seem to have forgotten this 
already, but we just had an election. Before that election the 
President told us about his plan to act unilaterally on immigration. He 
reminded us that his policies were on the ballot. And then the people 
spoke. The President doesn't have to like the result, but he has a duty 
to respect it. The American people clearly sent a message. Nobody 
missed it. They said they want to see us working together. They said 
they want to see more serious ideas pass through Congress. What they 
didn't say they wanted to see was the President sidestepping the very 
representatives they just elected. That is why so many Kentuckians have 
been calling my office in opposition to this plan. I know phones have 
continued to ring off the hook all week in our offices across Capitol 
Hill. Our constituents want to be heard. President Obama needs to 
listen to their voices.
  If nothing else, perhaps the President will at least consider the 
views of Democratic Senators and Members of Congress who have urged him 
not to do this. These Democrats understand the consequences of a 
President from a different political party citing this precedent in the 
future.
  Either way, he needs to understand something: If President Obama acts 
in defiance of the people and imposes his will on the country, Congress 
will act. We are considering a variety of options, but make no 
mistake--when the newly elected representatives of the people take 
their seats, they will act.
  Look, as the President has said, democracy is hard. Imposing his will 
unilaterally may seem tempting. It may serve him politically in the 
short term. But he knows it will make an already broken system even 
more broken, and he knows this is not how democracy is supposed to work 
because he told us so himself.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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