[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 192 (Tuesday, November 2, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S7585]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Veterans Day

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, next week, our Nation will commemorate 
Veterans Day. It will be the first time in a generation that we will 
honor that day as a nation no longer at war.
  With the conclusion of the war in Afghanistan--the longest war in our 
history--thousands of American troops finally came home. These heroes 
have returned to our shores, just as this Veterans Day stands as a 
reminder of everything we owe them, as well as every American who has 
served this Nation in uniform. More than 2,400 Americans perished in 
the war in Afghanistan. Thousands more return home with wounds--visible 
and invisible--that will stay with them for life.
  Words are not enough to honor that sacrifice. We need to ensure that 
our veterans and families have access to the best healthcare in the 
world, affordable housing, programs that support them as civilians, 
whether it is students, employees or businessowners.
  To serve our Nation in uniform takes a special measure of courage and 
devotion. For some members of our military, it also takes a great deal 
of persistence and determination.
  Let me tell you about one. I am speaking, of course, of those members 
of our military who were born in other nations and want to serve 
America. Over the years, I have shared the story of one of these 
heroes--his name: Oscar Vasquez.
  When Oscar was 12 years old, his family made the journey across the 
border from Mexico to America. They settled in Arizona. From the time 
he was a child, Oscar dreamed of serving America in the military. He 
studied hard in high school, even joined high school ROTC.
  But during his junior here, he ran into a problem. He tried to sign 
up for basic training, but the recruiter informed him that he couldn't 
serve in the U.S. military without a U.S. birth certificate. It was a 
tough setback, but Oscar was determined.
  He was awarded JROTC officer of the year by his high school, and he 
led a group of students in an underwater robotics competition. They 
squared off--these high school students--squared off against college 
students from schools like MIT. Guess what. They won. The victory led 
him to Arizona State University, where he earned a degree in mechanical 
engineering.
  After graduating, Oscar got married and had a child, but his 
undocumented status still prevented him from reaching his full 
potential, so he moved back to Mexico--a country he hadn't lived in 
since he was a young boy--to apply for legal entry into the United 
States. He would have been barred from reentering the United States and 
separated from his family for 10 years without a special waiver, so he 
decided to call my office.
  He reached out to us and said: ``Can you help me get a waiver?''
  When the Department of Homeland Security finally granted it, Oscar 
came home to America.
  What was the first thing that he did?
  He got his paperwork in order and enlisted in the U.S. Army. Within 6 
months of returning to the United States, he was off to basic training. 
Oscar served our Nation with honor as a cavalry scout in Afghanistan. 
And, today, he is finally an American citizen.
  We spend so much time around here talking about immigrants in 
negative terms. You look at Oscar and the sacrifice he made to serve 
our Nation in the military--this man who came to the United States as a 
little boy, knew what his goal was, and it was to risk his life for 
this great Nation.
  When I hear some of the speeches given on the floor--one yesterday 
about how the United States is going to give a million dollars to every 
one of these undocumented people--I think to myself, these 
preposterous, outlandish, exaggerated stories told about these 
immigrants belie the real determination many of them have to come to 
this country and make a difference in their lives and a difference in 
our future.
  Oscar is a living example. Oscar, like so many others, fought for our 
Nation in every war in our history. But even those who are ready to 
risk everything in America, for them, our immigration system still is 
broken.
  During this pandemic, thousands of DACA recipients and undocumented 
immigrants have actually helped save lives across America. They didn't 
enlist in the Army. They used their skills as doctors and nurses and 
paramedics and respiratory therapists. They may have saved a member of 
your family, these immigrants.
  On farms throughout the country, thousands more performed 
backbreaking labor to put food on our table. Donald Trump's 
administration classified them as ``essential workers.'' I think, for 
once, President Donald Trump was right.
  The pandemic has proven how much we depend on immigrants as members 
of the military, first responders, and agriculture workers. We couldn't 
function without them.
  That is precisely why reforming our broken immigration system is an 
integral part of President Biden's Build Back Better. We must include 
protections for immigrants, like Oscar Vasquez, who have given 
everything they can to America.
  If we want to rebuild our economy and drive its growth for years to 
come, we should begin by ensuring that immigrants can earn their place 
in the American story.
  How many examples do each one of us know in our own families and 
other families where these immigrants came to America with literally 
nothing?
  Many of them couldn't speak the language and went hard at work to 
establish a life, a family, a community, a business that ended up 
helping the entire Nation.
  Immigration reform could boost our Nation's GDP by more than $1 
trillion over the next 10 years--hundreds of thousands of new jobs. And 
don't buy this theory that it is zero-sum when it comes to the 
creation of jobs. We have found over and over again that a determined, 
hard-working person takes a job and helps create a new job in the 
process. It happens with the creation of business, the creation of jobs 
over and over again.

  It is far past time to reform our immigration system. With the Build 
Back Better package, we can finally get it done.