[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 17628-17631]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           IMMIGRATION REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pittenger). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 3, 2013, the Chair recognizes the gentleman 
from Colorado (Mr. Polis) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I just returned from visiting with 
hardworking Americans down on The National Mall, including Tom Weiss 
from Colorado, who are camped out and fasting in front of the Capitol 
on The National Mall. It is called the ``Fast for Families,'' a call 
for immigration reform and a pathway to citizenship.
  Fasting this month are many fine Americans using their own suffering 
to send a clear message to us here in Washington--to their elected 
leaders--that the moral and economic toll of Congress' failure to pass 
immigration reform is simply too great. This is an economic cause, yes, 
a security cause, yes, but it is a moral cause to unite families, to 
allow people to give back to our country to make it greater.
  Men and women from all corners of the country are pleading with us to 
pass comprehensive immigration reform. H.R. 15 here in the House 
reduces the deficit by close to $200 billion, creates over 100,000 jobs 
for Americans, secures our borders, unites families, makes sure that we 
have people with the skills we need to build a 21st century economy, 
and all that it requires is action here on the floor of the House.
  There are many others in States, including Arizona, Nebraska, 
California, New York, and Pennsylvania, who are also fasting and 
depriving themselves of food to demonstrate their passion for fixing 
our broken immigration system.
  I want to share with you the words of Jesus Ramirez, a 16-year-old 
high school student from Indianapolis, whose parents brought him to the 
United States when he was just 7 years old to escape the violence that 
was gripping his home country of Mexico. He says:

       My family and 11 million families out there who are 
     undocumented are living in the shadows and living with a fear 
     that one day they will come home and not see a loved one.

  Sadly, Mr. Speaker, every day until Congress acts, Jesus' worst fears 
come true for the 1,100 men, women, and children who are forcibly 
deported from the United States because our broken immigration system 
provides no recourse, provides no way under current law to get right 
with the law, no remedy, no line to get in for people for whom we say 
``get in line.''
  Immigration reform is about creating that line. The people who are 
here illegally will go to the end of the line behind people who are in 
process under our current immigration system.
  Clara Cuesta of Philadelphia, who is also fasting, said that she has 
friends who deal with hostile and exploitive conditions in the 
workplace, but are afraid to report it or to change jobs because they 
are worried about being asked to produce documents that they don't have 
and, again, have no way to get under current law. According to Clara, 
she has friends that are yelled at and treated less than equal simply 
because there is no way for them to get right with the law.
  There are women across our country, Mr. Speaker, who are victims of 
domestic abuse but don't seek the help they desperately need from 
authorities because they fear the risk of deportation from those very 
same authorities that should be there to protect them from harm.
  Since 1994, there have been more than 6,000 reported deaths on the 
U.S.-Mexico border. Comprehensive immigration reform will finally 
secure our southern border. Let's heed the call of the fasters, of 
those who pray passionately for comprehensive immigration reform. As 
Reverend Jim Wallis, the president of Sojourner, said:

       For people of faith, this is not a political issue, but a 
     moral one; and for Christians, how we treat 11 million 
     undocumented people, the strangers among us, is how we treat 
     Christ himself.

  I am sad to report, Mr. Speaker, it has been 145 days since the 
bipartisan Senate immigration bill passed with two-thirds of the 
Senate. It is rare, Mr. Speaker, here in my time serving in this body, 
that two-thirds of the Senate can agree on anything. But to agree on 
something of the importance of immigration reform, more than two-thirds 
of the Senate, sends a message that our friends on the other side of 
this building have heard the call of the people of this country to 
restore the rule of law, have heard the call of law enforcement to get 
real and enforce our laws, have heard the call of employers who want a 
highly skilled workforce, have heard the call of families who simply 
want to be safe in their homes as they work hard to make our country 
stronger.
  That is why I am proud to be part of a coalition of House Members 
that introduced a bill similar to the Senate bill, the bipartisan bill, 
H.R. 15, the Border Security Economic Opportunity and Immigration 
Modernization Act, which creates jobs, reduces our deficit, provides a 
pathway to citizenship, and unites families. Immigration reform will 
provide significant economic growth as immigrants will be able to 
contribute substantially to economic growth, increased wages, and 
productivity.
  According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the Senate 
immigration reform bill will lead to significant economic growth. Over 
the next decade, comprehensive immigration reform will increase our GDP 
by 3.3 percent. That means raising wages for Americans by $470 billion. 
That means creating an average of 121,000 jobs a year for Americans. 
Immigration reform also means that immigrants will pay more than $100 
billion in additional taxes, including to State and local government, 
to support the services that they have been using all along.
  It is not fair to our fellow Americans for people who are here 
without paperwork illegally to be using our public services without 
contributing with their taxes, and yet they support paying taxes. It is 
rare to meet people in this country who want to pay taxes, but, to a 
person that I have met with, they are ready. They are ready. They are 
patriotic. They are ready to contribute to our country, if only we will 
let them.
  The bill also expands the number of H-1B citizens from 65,000 to 
110,000 and allows the cap to rise as high as 180,000, depending on the 
U.S. economy, to ensure that businesses don't have to compete for 
oversubscribed visa slots and can access the workers they need so we 
can grow the next great generation of companies here. When a company is 
hiring in the technology field or a computer programmer, they are going 
after the person. If they can't bring the person that they want here to 
fill that job, they will fill that job in India, they will fill that 
job in England, they will fill that job in South America. It is a 
global economy. As Americans, we want those jobs and that economic 
productivity here.
  The House refusal to take up immigration reform has cost this country 
over $5.3 billion in potential revenue so far. The cost continues to go 
up every day that we fail to act.
  One of the issues in the contentious budget discussions about 
restoring fiscal solvency to our country is how we can repair our 
entitlement programs, make them secure for the next generation of 
retirees. Take the solvency of the Social Security trust fund, for 
example. The Social Security trust fund is already paying out more in 
retirement benefits than it receives in taxes. From an actuarial 
perspective, that is scheduled to get worse as baby boomers age.
  But as the Social Security Administration estimates, close to two-
thirds of the 8 million people who are here illegally currently work in 
an underground labor economy where neither their employers nor they are 
declaring their earnings or paying payroll taxes. Imagine that, 8 
million more people paying into Social Security to make sure that it is 
there for Americans who

[[Page 17629]]

have worked hard all their lives. We owe that to so many Americans who 
have paid in that it is there for them, and comprehensive immigration 
reform will ensure that that happens.
  Today, only about 37 percent, it has been estimated, of people who 
are here legally pay into Social Security with payroll taxes. Experts 
are estimating that our Nation loses about $20 billion a year in 
payroll taxes. I want that number to be 100 percent. I want people who 
are working here in this country to pay their fair share to ensure that 
Americans who have worked hard and paid into Social Security their 
whole lives are able to retire with the benefits that were promised to 
them and that they planned their lives around.
  While people who are here illegally are already helping to support 
Social Security to the tune of $12 billion a year, we are foregoing $20 
billion a year, which is what it has been estimated they would pay in 
if only we let them. If we can provide a pathway to citizenship for the 
11 million people who are here illegally, they will contribute hundreds 
of billions of dollars more to our Social Security system--$606 billion 
over the next 36 years. That funds a lifetime of retirement benefits 
for almost two and a half million Americans just from those.
  We are not talking about letting new people into the country. We are 
not talking about changing the way that people get here. We are talking 
about people who are already here and working. We are just saying, Pay 
your taxes. Pay your taxes like other Americans do.
  Let's talk about health care costs. While people here illegally pay 
into some of the health care programs to the tune of $115 billion for 
Medicare--again, we are foregoing the revenue--health care costs will 
continue to rise for American families because of the cost of the 
uninsured.
  As the Center for Immigration Studies estimates, the current cost of 
treating uninsured immigrants who enter this country without 
documentation is $4.3 billion a year, mostly at emergency rooms and 
free clinics. So again, costs are being shifted to American citizens to 
pay for the health care of those who are here illegally.
  The answer is simple. Make them pay for it themselves. H.R. 15 does 
that. Let's bring it to the floor. How much longer must we continue to 
subsidize the health care for people who haven't even followed our laws 
in working in our country?
  If we can pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill that brings 
our underground economy out of the shadows, many of these immigrants, 
some of whom have been here for decades, who are currently receiving 
benefits without paying for them, will be required to pay for their 
benefits. They will be required to purchase health care or get insured 
through their employer.

                              {time}  1915

  In doing so, our labor market will be healthier, more productive, and 
generate economic growth. The people who are here illegally will no 
longer be able to undermine wages for American workers because they are 
willing to work under the table and take public benefits from others 
rather than paying for it themselves, and that is why it is time to 
pass H.R. 15.
  There are only 10 legislative days left in 2013 for the House of 
Representatives to pass immigration reform. Thousands of men and women 
across the country who are fasting should send a strong message to this 
body. We need to ask immediately to pass comprehensive immigration 
reform that provides a pathway to citizenship and helps rebuild our 
economy.
  The average work week is an example of many of the hardworking 
immigrants in our country. On the farm worker side, it is 53 hours a 
week. The average wage of a noncitizen worker is $318 a week. Until we 
can find a way to bring the underground economy out from the shadows, 
illegal immigration will continue to exert a downward pressure on wages 
for American workers, reward businesses that skirt the law, that hire 
people illegally, and provide a drag on our overall economy and job 
creation.
  There is no other bill that I know of that will create over 100,000 
jobs for Americans, reduce our deficit by close to $200 billion, 
improve our national security, decrease the terrorist risk to our 
homeland, and unite hardworking families. Immigration reform will do 
that.
  The economic case is compelling. We have gone through some of the 
numbers here tonight. The security case is compelling in terms of 
making sure that people in our country cooperate with law enforcement 
investigations, that we know who is here, and they are accountable for 
following our laws.
  The moral case for immigration reform is what is driving this to 
national prominence. Moral issues always trump our day-to-day concerns. 
When something is right or wrong, Americans know that. They know that 
in their minds. They feel it in their heart, and Americans are good 
people, Mr. Speaker, and they want a country, they want to live in a 
country and be part of a country that reflects their values as 
Americans. Americans know that the way we handle immigration today does 
not do that.
  It is not moral to take a hardworking mother who plays a critical 
role supporting her family away from her American children and put her 
in indefinite detention. It is not right to allow thousands of people 
to die at our border rather than secure it, and not let people who 
shouldn't be here through. It is not right to force millions of people 
to live amongst us in a secret and underground manner, risking 
exploitation, risking being found out at any turn.
  That is why, Mr. Speaker, the faith-based community--from the 
evangelical coalition for immigration reform to the Catholic bishops to 
the Jews and Muslims to nonbelievers--has joined together not just to 
support immigration reform but to be the strong, moral voice for 
comprehensive immigration reform. It is simply the right thing to do by 
our people, for our values.
  We are a Nation of laws, and we are a Nation of immigrants. We need 
those two to be consistent. We need to reflect our American values as a 
Nation of immigrants, in our laws that welcome those who want to work 
hard and play by the rules to our shores. Yet today we have people who 
have worked hard every day for years, for decades, who have American 
kids who have gone through our schools and are as American as you or I, 
while their parents or their uncles or aunts are still forced to live 
underground and in secrecy. Despite being American in fact, they are 
not yet American in word.
  Again, there is no pathway, there is no line for people to get right 
with the law. Many people face what is called a lifetime bar, meaning 
that if they even try to come forward, they would have to live in some 
other country they might not have even been to for decades, and don't 
have a job and don't have any family there, and very likely never be 
able to return to where their kids are. When you ask that of people, 
they are not going to self-deport. That is not a good deal. What parent 
is going to want to leave their kids for the rest of their life and go 
to a country that they haven't been in for decades and don't have a job 
and might not even have family or friends there. It doesn't meet the 
real life needs of people in our country.
  What does is making sure that we hold people accountable for 
following our laws. Let's create provisional status so that eventually 
they can earn a green card. It is also important to know that H.R. 15 
and the Senate bill don't grant citizenship to anybody. There is nobody 
who is granted citizenship under any of these immigration reform bills 
we are talking about. It is about creating the line, creating the 
pathway, creating the way that people can get behind in line those who 
are already in line, a minimum of 13 years before they are even 
eligible to take the test or become a citizen.
  I have had the opportunity in Estes Park and in Centennial, Colorado, 
to be at the new citizenship ceremonies where we administer the oath of 
citizenship to new Americans from across the world. It gives me great 
pride as an American, as a great grandchild of immigrants, as a Member 
of Congress, to be able to participate in welcoming

[[Page 17630]]

people from Holland, Kenya, Israel, Brazil, from Mexico, to name just a 
few of the many countries represented at the two ceremonies I got to be 
a part of. There are many more that would like to work hard beside 
their American brothers and sisters to make our country stronger.
  Through acting on immigration reform, we can create jobs, reduce our 
deficit, improve our security, and most importantly, reflect what we 
know to be right and our values as Americans.
  I have been speaking every week on the floor of the House since the 
passage of the Senate immigration reform bill and since we introduced 
the House immigration reform bill about the need to pass immigration 
reform in the House. I believe we have the votes, Mr. Speaker. I 
believe H.R. 15, which has strong bipartisan sponsorship, if it was 
placed on the floor of the House, I am confident it would pass. I am 
confident that the Senate would accept the improvements that the House 
has made to the border security provisions. We have moved to an 
outcome-based model to hold border security accountable, and I am 
confident that President Obama would sign that bill.
  There are 2 more weeks here, Mr. Speaker, 8 more legislative days. I 
think America would like to see Congress work a little harder here. We 
have 40-some days left in the year. Most Americans have to work more 
than 8 days out of 40. I think Americans would like to see us work 10 
days, 12 days. I mean, God forbid, 25 or 30 days out of 40. That is 
what most Americans do. If we do that, I know we can pass immigration 
reform, whether it takes a day, a week, a month. We owe it to our 
country to try.
  I have been disappointed to see the types of bills that we have been 
spending days debating here on the floor of the House these last few 
weeks. While these are, of course, issues that people care about--last 
week we talked about asbestos torts; this week we talk about BLM 
fracking regulations, certainly an issue that affects Colorado near and 
dear to my district--I can tell you that the number of people from my 
district who have written in or called in on immigration reform has 
been, I think, 100 times. We were talking about asbestos reform last 
week. I didn't have a single constituent who had called in saying what 
I really want Congress to tackle is asbestos reform. I haven't had one 
in the years I have been here saying this is an issue they want us to 
deal with.
  Fracking, frankly, my constituents have asked me to take action on, 
but it is not the action that the House considered with the BLM. It is 
more like the bill that I sponsored, the Breathe Act which we offered 
as an amendment, and was not allowed in the Rules Committee. Even that, 
even though my district is home to fracking issues and BLM lands, the 
numbers of letters and calls we have gotten to act on that issue is 
dwarfed by the overwhelming demand for immigration reform. There has 
never been an issue like it in the public's desire and passion for 
Congress to act. It is an issue that our municipal governments can't 
fix, our State governments can't fix. Only our Federal Government can 
secure our borders. Only our Federal Government can require workplace 
enforcement. Only our Federal Government can determine who is here 
legally and who is here illegally. These are not things that cities or 
States can do.
  With a void of Federal leadership, States are around the edges trying 
to do what they can. They are talking about in-State tuition. They are 
working with deferred action kids. The President has moved forward with 
deferred action programs that provide a 2-year respite for young de 
facto Americans who know no other country, but only Congress, only the 
lawmakers, can address this issue and actually replace our broken, 
immoral, nonsensical immigration system with one that works and is 
enforced to restore the rule of law to our Nation.
  This problem won't go away until Congress acts. It won't resolve 
itself. We can wait. We can wait, and in 5 years, maybe there will be 
14 million people here illegally instead of 10. Maybe there will be a 
whole new generation of people who are here working illegally because 
we refuse to enforce the laws, refuse to require that employers verify 
that people who work at their companies are here legally. We don't do 
that in this country. We have a program, it is an optional program. So 
guess what? Most employers don't do E-Verify. You are an employer, why 
would you do it if it is optional? I think under 10 percent of 
companies use E-Verify, so it is not a burden on small business, but we 
need to make employment verification required, which H.R. 15 does. I 
mean, if we are ever going to get serious about ending the demand side 
of illegal immigration, which is people coming here for jobs--if they 
can't get the jobs, they are not going to be here. We need to be 
serious about that. H.R. 15 does that.
  We need to be serious about securing our border. Now, another 
important thing for Americans to know is securing our border is very 
important, but it is only about half of the issue. About half of the 
people who are here illegally came legally and stayed and worked 
illegally. So locking down that border, you are never going to get 100 
percent, but 99 percent, whatever you get down there, that can reduce 
illegal immigration by about half. But the other half came here 
legally, meaning they were on a student visa and they stayed illegally 
and worked illegally, or they flew on a tourist visa and they stayed 
and worked illegally. There are a number of different ways where it is 
perfectly legal to arrive here, but then they stay illegally.
  So we have to deal with both sides of that, which is why border 
security is great, but it is not enough. In the best cases, it reduces 
the number of people who enter our country illegally by about half. It 
doesn't do a darn thing about the fact that there are 11 million people 
already here illegally, it doesn't do a darn thing about people who 
will keep entering illegally because they actually enter legally and 
stay illegally.
  There are a lot of moving parts to this immigration boondoggle that 
the country will continue to find itself in until Congress has the 
courage, the integrity, and the desire to act.

                              {time}  1930

  If there are other ideas, we are happy to hear them. We put H.R. 15 
on the table. There have been many ideas from the Senate bill. I know 
there are a number of bills that have passed out of the Judiciary 
Committee. There might be a way to bundle some of those together in 
what has been called ``piecemeal reform,'' if we can create a holistic 
system that works.
  If there is a piecemeal approach, Mr. Speaker, we need to start 
having a meal of the pieces and seeing what the pieces are. I was in 
the software and Internet industry before I was elected to office, and 
we used to have a word for products that were much hyped and never 
delivered upon. We called it ``vaporware.'' I fear that this piecemeal 
approach could become vaporware if we don't start seeing some action 
soon.
  God forbid we work more than 8 days out of 40. If we don't see action 
by the end of the year, I know we are here in January for 3 weeks. What 
an excellent time to take up immigration reform, something that I feel 
can unite this body, the good and proud men and women who make up this 
body, who care deeply about restoring the rule of law, who care deeply 
about ensuring that our Nation has a prosperous future, reducing our 
deficit and creating jobs for Americans on both sides of the aisle, 
which is why more than two-thirds of the Senate joined in a rare 
bipartisan vote of support for immigration reform and has challenged 
this House to take similar action.
  We can do it, Mr. Speaker. We need to schedule the floor time to do 
that. We need to get the ideas that Members from both sides of the 
aisle have on the table. We think H.R. 15 is an excellent bipartisan 
vehicle. If the leaders of this body have other solutions, we are happy 
to talk about them. But the most important thing that the American 
people already know about immigration, and I hope the leadership of 
this body recognizes, is that it is not an issue that solves itself, 
and it is not an issue that goes away. It is an issue that only becomes 
more salient year after year that Congress fails to act.

[[Page 17631]]

  I call upon this body to bring forward H.R. 15 and to pass 
commonsense immigration reform.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________