[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 97 (Tuesday, June 12, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H5088-H5090]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          IMMIGRATION SOLUTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Cheney). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 3, 2017, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Aguilar) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. AGUILAR. Madam Speaker, I don't have any notes in front of me. I 
just want to speak a little bit to this body about a topic that has 
been in the news, even as of this evening, and to just let folks know 
and to remind folks again about why we are pushing so hard to solve a 
problem that appears so easy to solve: the issue of the DACA

[[Page H5089]]

population and the importance of comprehensive immigration reform, but 
more importantly, of solving this problem for this population of young 
people who know of no other country but the United States as their 
home.
  Now, the public might hear terms like ``queen of the hill'' and 
``discharge petitions,'' and, Madam Speaker, those terms may mean 
things to you and me, but for the general public, I just want to 
crystalize what it is we are fighting for. What we are asking for, a 
bipartisan group of Democrats and Republicans, we are asking for an 
opportunity to vote on immigration measures that would offer a solution 
to these young people.
  Now, the measure that I support and that many of my colleagues on 
both sides of the aisle support is one that would offer an earned path 
to citizenship for those individuals who work, go to school, or serve 
in the military. That doesn't seem like a stretch for the American 
public.
  The American public, over 80 percent, support a solution for these 
young people. But in this body, it becomes a little more difficult; and 
in this body, sometimes things get in the way.
  So I don't know the outcome of special meetings this evening or 
outcomes among discussions that colleagues have in the majority, but 
what I would remind folks again at home and my colleagues is that there 
are Democrats and Republicans underneath this dome who are working hard 
every day to try to offer a permanent solution to these young people--
not a temporary solution that punts this down for another day, but a 
permanent solution that would allow these young people to come out of 
the shadows, to continue to work, continue to teach, continue to live 
in our neighborhoods without fear.
  So we don't have a lot of time left, Madam Speaker, and based on what 
I know today, I don't believe that there are any more signatures 
signing the discharge petition this evening. But I think what my 
colleagues and I want to underscore is that, to those young people who 
feel that this institution let them down once again--or maybe they feel 
that I let them down--that we are going to continue to work, that we 
are going to continue to offer our ideas and solutions, that we are 
going to continue to offer a path to citizenship for those who belong 
here, who were raised here, who know the United States as their home. 
That is our responsibility. It is what the Constitution allows us to 
debate and discuss.
  It is unfortunate that, on the other side of Capitol Hill, the Senate 
had this debate and had this discussion and voted on four bills, some 
authored by just Republicans, some authored by a bipartisan group. They 
had an opportunity to debate and discuss what should transpire. We 
haven't had that opportunity.
  Madam Speaker, I know it might not surprise you to know that the last 
time immigration was discussed on this House floor was in 2010, and it 
was when the DREAM Act passed, in a bipartisan way, in a lameduck 
session in December.
  So the stakes are incredibly high, and what I would tell folks is 
that that just shows this isn't easy.
  The last time immigration was discussed was 8 years ago on this 
floor. Since then, folks have felt that burying their head in the sand 
was a solution enough or just offering a partisan bill was a solution 
enough.
  That is why we decided to engage in discussion and debate and to try 
to force this Chamber to have a bipartisan discussion and to try to 
force this Chamber to vote on three or four bills, some a little more 
conservative, some a little bit more left of center, right of center, 
but to have an opportunity to vote for one or multiple bills. It is 
just unfortunate, Madam Speaker, that there isn't enough political 
will, that there isn't enough strength in this Chamber among the 
Members to have that conversation.
  Now, we could be dejected. We could be upset, and I know folks in our 
communities will be, but we are going to continue to work. We are going 
to continue to find a solution. We are going to continue to work in a 
bipartisan way, as we have done for the past 9 months since the 
President ended the DACA program. I feel that we owe it to our 
communities, we owe it to our constituents, we owe it to each other as 
colleagues to allow this place to do what it should do: debate and 
discuss bills.
  I don't have much more to offer, Madam Speaker, but, I hope that 
folks at home understand how important this is and that there are some 
of us who are going to continue to engage in this discussion.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. 
Michelle Lujan Grisham).
  Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico. Madam Speaker, I thank my 
incredible colleague from California, Congressman Aguilar. This is a 
really personal issue to so many Members not only in this Chamber, but 
in our neighboring Chamber, the U.S. Senate: the notion that, after 
more than 6 months of bipartisan, bicameral efforts, this body cannot 
hold an effort to have just a debate in an environment where we clearly 
have the will of the entire body focused on the will of our 
constituents in this Nation to find a permanent solution for Dreamers, 
who, as my colleague so artfully stated, have no other country than 
this one as their own and the fact that that effort will not be 
undertaken because the leadership of this House refuses to do its job 
by allowing us the opportunity to debate bills and to share ideas and 
to move forward on pieces of legislation that truly make a difference 
in the lives of our constituents and the lives of Americans in every 
single community.
  It is days like this I really appreciate that I have colleagues who 
keep their hope and their faith, and they have got my commitment to do 
the same.
  But the nicest thing I can say is that it is really unfortunate that 
we find ourselves here at nearly 9:30 p.m. because we don't have the 
courage of Members to stay the course and do what is right, 
particularly now in an environment where instead of moving forward on 
the issues where more of us agree than not, in fact, we are seeing even 
more draconian, anti-American, probably, unconstitutional efforts at 
preventing asylum and refuge to others around the world, which is our 
constitutional basis in this country. And this was an opportunity to 
not only begin to deal with these issues, but to do what is right for 
these young people.
  For those folks who are watching us tonight in this situation, I want 
to highlight who they are again.
  In New Mexico, and, in fact, in my district, which is Albuquerque, 
New Mexico, the teacher of the year is a Dreamer. In a country where 
20,000 educators are Dreamers, in a State where 5,000 young men and 
women are doctors, engineers, lawyers, educators, nurses, 
entrepreneurs, long-term care caregivers, providing the very supportive 
work for which this country has a serious shortage, because they are so 
committed to their communities and their families that they are taking 
on the challenges that too many of us are unwilling to do, yet this 
body, this Chamber refusing to allow the majority to take an action 
that would provide those young people with a protected, positive, 
productive future, the same thing that they have done for our 
communities, all of our communities, I find incredibly disheartening 
tonight.
  But I, too, want to add my voice that I will continue to fight and 
work to find whatever pathways for a solution make the most sense in a 
body that makes no sense, particularly now.
  I thank my colleague and my Republican colleagues who had the courage 
to work to force the debate when leadership refused to provide that 
avenue, who had the courage to force the debate when leadership did not 
hold their commitments to meet with members of the Congressional 
Hispanic Caucus, including myself, who failed to hold meetings so that 
we could work on ideas and strategies before getting to this point, who 
failed to provide any meaningful legislative idea, effort, text, any 
legislative solutions or strategy.
  I want to thank Members like my colleague from California, and, 
actually, I assume that my colleague from California will yield to our 
colleague from Texas.
  There are so many Members of this body who worked so incredibly hard 
to do, finally, the work that we were elected to do. I certainly want 
to give them my gratitude and my commitment that I will continue to do 
everything in my power to force this Chamber to do the job that we were 
all elected to do.

[[Page H5090]]

  


                              {time}  2130

  Mr. AGUILAR. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her comments 
and her time. There are few people in this Chamber who have dug in 
deeper than the gentlewoman from New Mexico, Chairwoman Michelle Lujan 
Grisham, who actually, when the story of this discussion is told at 
some point in the future, it was her efforts that really highlighted 
and started to push us in a bipartisan way when we had conversations 
among Democrats and Republicans. And one of those early individuals who 
stood up and said, I am willing to have a real conversation with you if 
this can genuinely be a bipartisan effort, was the gentleman from 
Texas, who I have learned a lot from and gained a lot of respect for 
throughout this process.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hurd).
  Mr. HURD. Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from 
California for yielding to me and for the work that we have been able 
to do together.
  In my 3\1/2\ short years in Washington, D.C., I have learned a very 
simple thing: if you want to get big things done, you have to actually 
do it together. And the only way that this body gets things done is if 
we work across the aisle to get things done. I have learned that way 
more unites us as a country than divides us, and that it is actually 
possible to disagree without being disagreeable. This is something that 
I have learned firsthand with the distinguished gentleman from 
California and the distinguished gentlewoman from New Mexico.
  I would say that, through this process, learning more about these 
young men and women, who have only known the United States of America 
as their home, over a million men and women who are in school, who are 
working hard, 5 percent of the DACA population are entrepreneurs, which 
is more than twice the national average, these are men and women--in 
Texas alone, the DACA population has a $7 billion impact on the State's 
GDP. That is pretty big. These are young men and women that are already 
contributing to our history, our culture, our economy, and they are 
already Americans.
  We are going to continue to work in a bipartisan way to solve the 
problem of DACA, and also solve the problem of border security. I have 
more border than any Member of Congress--820 miles. It is 2018 and we 
still don't have operational control of our border. But we are not 
going to solve this problem with a 30-foot high concrete structure that 
takes 4 hours to penetrate. We are going to solve it by using 
technology.
  The technology exists today to determine the difference between a 
bunny rabbit and a person and be able to deploy a drone to track and 
actually secure our communities. We are already seeing that happen, if 
you haven't read a Wired article from this week talking about some 
entrepreneurs from the gentleman's great State that are working on 
solving this problem.
  I will close with this. If we are going to get anything done to solve 
real big problems in this country, we have to do it in a bipartisan 
fashion. I am proud to stand with a number of Republicans and 
Democrats, and I am proud to have to be one of the sponsors of the only 
bipartisan piece of legislation in solving border security and 
committing to solve the problem: a permanent legislative fix for the 
young men and women that are DACA recipients.
  We are going to continue to do this, we are going to continue to work 
hard, and we are going to continue to do it in a bipartisan fashion. As 
always, I am looking forward to spending more time with my friends from 
New Mexico and California.
  Mr. AGUILAR. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas, not 
only for calling our attention to the Wired article, but also for his 
comments about solving this problem in a bipartisan way. He has been a 
true friend throughout this process, and I think we have all learned a 
lot from each other.
  One of the things that he highlighted on as well was: How do you--how 
do we--I will speak personally, how do I have a conversation about 
border security?
  My district doesn't touch the border. I can have conversations with 
individuals. I can go and do my due diligence and talk to Border 
Patrol, stakeholders, and advocates in the community. But it is going 
to take having conversations with those Members who represent the 
border, those Members in Arizona, New Mexico, California, and my 
colleague in Texas, who has the most mileage of any Member in Congress 
along the southern border.
  We are going to continue to have these conversations because that is 
the only way we learn, that is the only way we grow, and that is the 
only way we can chart a course forward, is to do it in a bipartisan 
way.
  Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to address this body, and 
I yield back the balance of my time.

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