[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 25684]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      UNITED AMERICAN FAMILIES ACT

  (Mr. QUIGLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. QUIGLEY. Madam Speaker, as we begin to consider substantial 
comprehensive immigration proposals, I strongly urge my colleagues to 
remember what it means to achieve comprehensive reform.
  We cannot forget a very important immigrant group in this country, 
binational GLBT couples. If we are to consider here on this floor a 
proposal deemed ``comprehensive,'' we must truly mean everyone. We must 
mean it when we say that you can be an American no matter the color of 
your skin, your religion, or who you love.
  Congressman Honda has been courageous enough to tackle the issue of 
amending the Nation's immigration laws to allow U.S. citizens and 
permanent residents to sponsor their same-sex partners for family-based 
immigration through the United American Families Act.
  In this debate, we have talked about keeping families together, but 
we cannot turn a blind eye to the children who have been taken from a 
family because they have two moms or two dads and one doesn't live in 
this country.
  We talk about doing what is right, what is fair, and what is just, 
but we neglect to imagine the pain and suffering these families are 
going through because we as a government think it's our right to tell 
the people who they can love.

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