[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8615]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1630
                    COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kuhl). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise to discuss ways we can work 
together to create an immigration system that better reflects the 
enormous contributions immigrants make every day, respects our Nation's 
proud history of welcoming men and women to seek a better life, and 
better protects our homeland by bringing people out of the shadows. And 
today I thought we could continue our discussion of mending borders 
with a quote.
  The late Senator Robert F. Kennedy once said, ``Our attitude toward 
immigration reflects our faith in the American ideal. We have always 
believed it possible for men and women who start at the bottom to rise 
as far as their talent and energy allow. Neither race nor place of 
birth should affect their chances.''
  Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, our current immigration system is falling 
far short of those ideals. But it is my hope that we can work in a 
bipartisan fashion to ensure that our Nation's immigration policies and 
the practices better embody Senator Kennedy's eloquent words.
  Because the struggling farm worker in Washington State who endures 
brutal working conditions and little pay to support his family deserves 
the right to be treated with dignity and to have a clear path to 
permanency for his sacrifice. Because the restaurant worker in Chicago 
who each day faces endless hours of washing dishes in the dank 
basements of our swankiest eateries to support her children has earned 
the right to keep her family together without fear of deportation. And 
because the factory worker in North Carolina who tolerates grueling 
days so his loved ones may one day realize the American Dream should be 
protected from exploitation and discrimination.
  These hard-working immigrants are part of the fabric of our Nation as 
surely and completely as those who came before them. And from coast to 
coast in big cities and small farm towns, they are serving as America's 
economic backbone and as a source of pride and progress for the future.
  Mr. Speaker, our Nation depends on immigrants' labor, and I hope we 
can create an immigration system as dependable as they are.
  So tonight, rather than focusing on divisive words of people like Lou 
Dobbs, let us focus on the words of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan 
Greenspan, who recently stated at a Committee on Financial Services 
hearing that: ``As I've said before, I'm always supportive of expanding 
our immigration policies. I think that immigration has been very 
important to the success of this country. And I fully support it.'' 
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.
  Rather than unfairly attacking imigrants for filling jobs Americans 
will not do, let us focus on the words of President Theodore Roosevelt, 
who said, ``This country will not be a permanently good place for any 
of us to live in unless we make it a reasonably good place for all of 
us to live in.'' President Roosevelt's words are why in cities across 
the country today, workers and advocates, religious and business 
leaders are standing together to strongly support comprehensive 
immigration reform.
  Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, and I can assure the Members 
that this town is gearing up for another party. And while the 
immigrants appreciate the mariachis and marching bands, the speeches 
and the songs, what they really want is an immigration system that 
works and keeps their families united. A system that allows them to be 
full and productive members of our society. Because, Mr. Speaker, we 
cannot simply just take their labor, their sweat and their toil and 
then subjugate them into the shadows of a second class citizenry. We 
need a system that allows people to come to our country in a safe, 
orderly, and legal manner.

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