[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 7091-7096]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           IMMIGRATION REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2013, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, today I'm proud to rise in strong support of 
comprehensive immigration reform. There are many of my colleagues that 
have fought these battles long before I arrived in Congress, but today 
I join my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, in strong support of 
comprehensive immigration reform.
  Comprehensive immigration reform is the single most important thing 
we can do to grow our economy. It will also help make sure that our 
laws reflect our values as Americans. We are,

[[Page 7092]]

after all, a Nation of laws and a Nation of immigrants, and the two can 
and must be made consistent through comprehensive immigration reform.
  I want to acknowledge the work of many of my colleagues both in the 
Senate and House in working towards this worthy goal. I've said in my 
district and here on the floor of Congress that never in my limited 
time here have I ever been more optimistic about getting immigration 
reform done than I am now.
  Immigration reform is long overdue, and should this Congress fail to 
rise to the challenge, Mr. Speaker, the issue will not go away. There 
may be 10 million or 11 million people here without papers to be able 
to work, and that doesn't solve itself, so let's take this on. Let's 
take this on on behalf of the American people, on behalf of Americans 
of all ideologies, arm in arm with faith-based groups, with civil 
rights groups, with law enforcement, with the business community, all 
of whom have come to Washington and met with Members back home 
imploring on us the urgent need for action.
  There is a strong economic argument about how immigration reform 
spurs innovation, helps create jobs. We need to also make sure 
employers play by the same set of rules and some employers don't 
benefit by dealing under the table in an illegal way. This happens 
today.
  I've spoken out about some of the steps that States and Congress have 
taken in the absence of comprehensive immigration reform because those 
measures simply don't work. Let's take, for example, programs like 
287(g) and Secure Communities. These draconian laws have actually made 
our communities less safe by making our immigrant communities less 
likely to report crimes. Failure to access health care makes our 
communities less safe by deteriorating public health.
  A recent poll showed that almost 30 percent of U.S.-born Latinos, 
Americans, are scared to report a crime, even if they're a victim, out 
of fear that they'll be asked about their immigration status or the 
status of their family and friends. In order to begin to address this 
important public safety issue, we have to pass comprehensive 
immigration reform and restore trust to community policing across the 
country.
  There is a political imperative facing the United States Congress 
because a vast majority of Americans want to see us pass comprehensive 
immigration reform. Over 70 percent--a majority of self-described 
conservatives, of liberals, of moderates, majorities of Democrats, of 
Republicans, Independents--83 percent of Americans support a pathway to 
citizenship for immigrants who pass a background test and want to learn 
English and play by the rules.
  I've heard some of my colleagues say, Oh, why don't they get in line? 
Well, the truth of the matter is, Mr. Speaker, there is no line. 
Immigration reform is about creating a line. Of course, those who are 
here illegally will be in line behind those who are in the process 
legally. There's never been a question about that. But we need to 
create a line to have an orderly way of doing what is under the table 
and done extra legally today.

                              {time}  1900

  The American public wants us to act now and continues to demand that 
of this Congress, because the American people are wise. They know that 
nothing will help us grow our economy more, will shore up the budget 
deficit and the entitlement programs that we worry about, will 
reestablish the rule of law, will help us secure our borders and 
facilitate trade. Nothing will do that better than bipartisan, 
comprehensive immigration reform.
  I'm proud to say that the Senate markup of immigration reform is now 
underway. As we move forward, we'll be talking out for and against 
various amendments that support or undermine our principles. I think 
what's critical is to protect a pathway to citizenship for 11 million 
aspiring Americans living in the shadows, and we need to make sure that 
there's a realistic way for that to happen.
  Let me be clear: no version of comprehensive immigration reform 
confers citizenship on anybody. Citizenship is earned over time. This 
is about creating a line and a process by which people have provisional 
status, maybe some day a green card, and then maybe some day if they 
want to learn English and take the citizenship test and forgo their 
foreign allegiances, we'd be happy to have them as our American 
brothers and sisters. If other immigrants choose not to and choose to 
work here for a period of time legally and return to another country, 
that is fine, too. This country has been built by immigrants from 
across the world. My own great-grandparents came to these shores, and 
today, I have the deep honor of serving in the United States Congress.
  We need to make sure that immigration reform keeps families together, 
strengthens our family-based visa program for future immigrants, has 
realistic wait times that are consistent with people's lives so that 
parents can be with their kids as they grow up. Nothing can be more 
inhumane than the way immigration laws play out today in our country 
where an American child, an American citizen, returning home from 
school might find that their mother or father is in an indefinite 
detention process, and not because of anything their kid did. Why? 
Maybe they had a taillight out. Maybe they were going 10 miles over the 
speed limit. Is that really a moral justification for tearing up a 
strong family unit, Mr. Speaker?
  I've met with many of these kids and I've met with their parents. We 
need to be a Congress that supports families. We need to be a Congress 
that helps parents have time to spend with their kids, make sure no kid 
has to worry about their parent, who has no criminal violation--we're 
only talking about civil violations, no criminal violation--and 
suddenly being missing for months or being sent to a country that the 
child might never even have been to.
  There's a number of reasons in addition to the moral ones for 
immigration reform. Many of our fast-growing companies cry out for a 
skilled workforce. For America to be competitive, for innovative 
companies in the technology industry to be successful, for innovative 
companies in advanced manufacturing to be successful, we need to 
compete in the global talent pool. We are precluded. American companies 
are precluded from doing that today. And we wonder why jobs are being 
outsourced. Why are companies growing in India? Why are companies 
growing in England? Why are they growing overseas in Chile? Well, you 
know what? Many of those companies would rather grow here and hire 
people here, and our current laws prohibit them from doing so because 
they can't get the people they want.
  I represent a district with two fine universities, great 
institutions: Colorado State University in Fort Collins, the University 
of Colorado at Boulder. Right down the road is the School of Mines in 
Colorado, DU. All these schools are educating the next generation of 
engineers, of mathematicians, of computer programmers, of scientists, 
some of whom are foreign nationals legally here on student visas. But 
once they're trained, once that young man from India, that young woman 
from France gets that advanced degree in computer science and a 
master's degree and is ready to go into a good job, guess what our 
government says? Our government says, Guess what, you've got to leave. 
You've got to take that job to France. You've got to take that job to 
India. You've got to take that job to Canada. Our government is saying 
we don't want that job in our country.
  Well, Mr. Speaker, through comprehensive immigration reform, this 
Congress can make a statement that we do want that job here in America. 
We want to grow our economy stronger. We want to make sure that the 
people who have had the great benefit of learning at one of our premier 
institutions of higher education can employ their talents here to make 
our country stronger and grow our economy. That's what comprehensive 
immigration reform is all about.
  I'm also optimistic that comprehensive immigration reform will 
provide a

[[Page 7093]]

new mechanism for entrepreneurs from across the world to start their 
companies here. Currently, there is no visa classification for somebody 
who has an idea, has some backing, venture capital investment, and 
wants to hire 10 or 20 people. And guess what. It's not just about the 
10 or 20 people that they hire. It's about the potential for that 
company to employ thousands of people years down the road. And again, 
what does our government say? No, go start that company in Chile; go 
start that company in China or India.
  Well, I'm sure all those countries need companies, too, Mr. Speaker; 
but I, as a Congressman, represent America, and I want that company 
here. I want it in my congressional district and in my State, but I'll 
be happy as long as it is in America. So let's provide a way, through a 
start-up visa, that an entrepreneur from anywhere in the world who has 
a great idea and that idea is validated by receiving a real investment 
can come start their company here in our country. Hire Americans; grow 
that company; bring value to consumers; create jobs; live the American 
Dream. That's what this country is all about. That's what this country 
is all about.
  And let's talk about the dreamers, Mr. Speaker. These are young de 
facto Americans. Why de facto Americans? They know no other country. 
Maybe they were brought here when they were 2 or 5 or 1. They didn't 
violate any law in coming here. What does a 1-year-old know from the 
law. They grew up here. They played sports with your kids in school. 
They were cheerleaders with your kids in school. They got good grades. 
They're going to college. Guess what. They don't have any type of 
identification that allows them to work in this country. And 
technically, under the law, they would have to return to another 
country where they may not even speak the language or know anybody.
  So while President Obama's deferred action program is a strong step 
in the right direction, and at least many of these dreamers no longer 
live in fear of indefinite detention and can go to work, that's only a 
2-year timeout. Only Congress can provide a permanent status for these 
millions of de facto Americans who know no other country, are as 
American as you or me. American in fact; let's make them American in 
law. And that, too, should and must be a part of the comprehensive 
immigration reform package.
  Our country is about family values and letting parents raise their 
kids without fear of government intervention, being able to live the 
American Dream. These are values that transcend our ideologies. These 
are values that conservative Americans and liberal Americans and 
moderate Americans can all agree on.
  When I have town hall meetings in my district--and we always, as you 
can imagine, Mr. Speaker, attract a broad ideological diversity, as 
many of us do across this country, everybody from the far right to far 
left to people in the middle--I always like to ask, Is anybody happy 
with immigration today? Does anybody here think we're doing a great 
job; everything's right? Not a single constituent anywhere along the 
ideological spectrum has raised their hand and said, Yes, we just need 
to keep doing what we're doing.
  It ain't working. There are 11 million people here illegally. 
Countries are violating the law every day. Families are being torn 
apart. Taxpayers are on the hook. Let's change it. It ain't going to 
change unless we change it. It doesn't change itself.
  States have tried to move forward with what they can. They can't 
solve it. Some States have looked into issuing State work permits or 
in-State tuition or how they can make sure that people have driver's 
insurance who don't have Federal paperwork. But look, they're just 
cleaning up after our mess. That's all the States can do. We need to 
fix this mess here in Washington. Only the United States Congress has 
the authority to restore credibility and integrity to our immigration 
law.

                              {time}  1910

  Americans of all stripes are joining the call for comprehensive 
immigration reform now, strengthening our border security, and 
facilitating legitimate trade and commerce across the border, employer 
enforcement, making sure that employers aren't let off the hook for 
hiring people who don't have the right to be here, making sure we have 
the workers we need to fuel our economy, all kinds of jobs that we 
need.
  We talked about technology and programmers. Well, guess what? We also 
need people in the fields picking tomatoes, in the fields harvesting 
oranges. We need people who clean buildings at night. We're happy, 
we're always happy to have Americans do that.
  I was meeting with a farmer in Larimer County a couple of months ago. 
He said he'd love to hire Americans. He's never been able to have an 
American who agreed to keep that job and do that backbreaking labor for 
more than a couple of weeks. He relies on immigrant labor. He wants us 
to pass comprehensive immigration reform that includes a way that they 
can have seasonal workers to meet the needs that they have in the 
field.
  I'm joined by one of my colleagues from the great State of 
California. Congressman Takano, despite being a freshman, has quickly 
become a vocal advocate for immigrant families. He's shown a strong 
commitment and true leadership in seeing that comprehensive immigration 
reform passes in the 113th Congress.
  I'm proud to welcome and yield time to my colleague from the State of 
California.
  Mr. TAKANO. I thank the gentleman from Colorado for yielding time.
  Even though the economy is improving and job creation levels are the 
highest they've been in 4 years, the top priority for all Members of 
Congress must be putting people back to work and strengthening the 
economy.
  Despite what opponents of immigration reform say, the bill proposed 
in the Senate does just that; and, moreover, it strengthens Social 
Security.
  One of the Republican architects of the Senate bill, Senator Marco 
Rubio, sent a letter to the Social Security Administration's chief 
actuary, asking for the net effect of comprehensive immigration reform 
on the Social Security trust fund.
  In his reply, Chief Actuary Goss stated that they are developing 75-
year estimates, but, quote, and this is Actuary Goss speaking, 
``overall, we anticipate that the net effect of this bill,'' meaning 
comprehensive immigration reform, ``on the long-range Social Security 
actuarial balance, will be positive.''
  The actuary's office also states that over the next 10 years, 
comprehensive immigration reform will prevent 2 million illegal border 
crossings, create 3.2 million jobs, and increase the rate of growth on 
our gross domestic product by a third.
  Opponents of immigration reform don't seem to understand that many of 
the undocumented immigrants in this Nation are already working. Yet 
because of their illegal status, they are forced into the underground 
economy, with no labor protections and no way to pay into the system.
  Put plainly, undocumented immigrants are often paid cash under the 
table, and often drastically less than the minimum wage. Allowing these 
individuals to come out of the shadows and putting them on the pathway 
to citizenship brings them into the system, where they will pay taxes 
and receive basic protections against abuse.
  For example, an undocumented worker in my district may only be making 
$4 or $5 an hour, instead of the California minimum wage of $8 an hour. 
If comprehensive immigration reform is passed, he or she will be 
eligible for the minimum wage, which will, in turn, increase his buying 
power, raise revenues for businesses, and drive up wages for everyone 
else, thus increasing our annual GDP growth rate, as shown here on this 
chart.
  Now, just to be clear, without comprehensive immigration reform, our 
annual growth rate will only be 4.5 percent. But with comprehensive 
immigration reform, our annual growth rate shoots up to 6.1 percent.
  If the priority of this body is putting Americans back to work and 
strengthening our economy, then it must pass

[[Page 7094]]

comprehensive immigration reform that creates a pathway to citizenship 
and allows undocumented workers the ability to work under the same 
labor protections and pay into the same system as everyone else.
  Mr. POLIS. I thank the gentleman from California for sharing that 
information.
  What better way can we grow our economy, create jobs for Americans, 
reduce our national debt, reduce the deficit than if we simply 
accomplish comprehensive immigration reform.
  Many colleagues on both sides of the aisle have expressed concerns 
about how we can make sure that Social Security is viable and there for 
young people when they retire. Well, guess what? Making sure that we 
have our younger new immigrants paying in will help make sure that 
occurs and that today's seniors and tomorrow's seniors will be taken 
care of in their old age.
  I think that comprehensive immigration reform is absolutely critical 
towards job growth and creation. And the gentleman from California 
talked about the difference between a 6.1 and 4.5 percent growth. That 
represents millions of jobs, millions of jobs for Americans. That's 
what's at stake with this discussion.
  I want to ask the gentleman from California to talk about how 
important jobs are in his district and how you'd benefit from that 
additional 2 percent growth. What would that mean to folks in Riverside 
and folks in California?
  Mr. TAKANO. Well, a 2 percent growth rate could translate into a 
reduction of our current 11 percent unemployment rate in my district, 
which is located in Riverside County. We often, in the Inland Empire, 
as we call the region of California where I represent, we often lag 
behind the rest of the State when we are coming out of economic 
downturns.
  What I find most interesting about Chief Actuary Goss's statement, 
his reply to Senator Rubio's question was how comprehensive immigration 
reform will have a positive net effect on Social Security.
  And if you think about that carefully, and you compare our Nation to, 
say, a nation such as Japan, where there is no inflow of immigration, 
and where the population is aging, or other advanced nations where 
there is no significant amount of immigration, and their populations 
are aging, they are facing tremendous stresses on the ways in which 
they are going to provide for their senior citizens.
  It only makes sense that, to keep Social Security solvent, we want 
young, vibrant inflows of capable workers to pay the taxes that will 
support Social Security into the future.
  Mr. POLIS. The gentleman from California has also been a leader in 
opposing the chained CPI adjustment to Social Security. Don't you think 
that this immigration reform concept is a better way to shore up Social 
Security than trying to change the formula to a chained CPI?
  Mr. TAKANO. I agree. That's a very good question. Chained CPI, as you 
know, was--many Americans may not know what chained CPI means. CPI is 
the consumer price index, and that's the way in which the increase in 
Social Security benefits are calculated.
  There are some economists who've proposed something called chained 
CPI, which assumes that seniors could withstand a slight reduction in 
their benefits because they could substitute other goods and services 
that are cheaper.
  But the main goods and services that senior citizens consume are 
health care and medicines and prescription drugs. Those goods and 
services they can count on increasing faster than the rate of 
inflation.
  Let's look at how this immigration bill is going to work.

                              {time}  1920

  For the first 10 years, registered provisional status for the 
immigrants who have been previously undocumented would mean that people 
would be legal in this country, on legal status. They would be paying 
taxes, but they could not be drawing any Social Security benefits out. 
I personally have some problems with this. But under this current law, 
for 10 years, we would see millions of workers who are under the Social 
Security cap who would be paying into the Social Security Trust Fund, 
but none of them would be able to draw anything out for at least 10 
years. You just do the simple back-of-the-envelope math, and you have 
to understand what an inflow of revenue that would be to the system.
  Mr. POLIS. This comprehensive immigration reform helps two ways. One, 
there's more people paying in, young people. The second way is more 
economic growth, which means Social Security is funded through a 
payroll tax. So when you have more people working, lower unemployment, 
we talked about getting that rate in Riverside down from 11 percent to 
9 percent to 8 percent to 6 percent. Everybody working is then paying 
in, and that also makes Social Security stronger.
  So this argument about the critical economic growth engine that we 
need not only creates jobs today but helps ensure that tomorrow's 
seniors are taken care of in their old age.
  Mr. TAKANO. Yes, it's a double benefit that many people may not have 
been aware of, a double positive effect on our economy. For many people 
it's counterintuitive to think that by reforming immigration and by 
giving legal status to undocumented immigrants to allow them to come 
out of the shadows and to be protected by our labor laws that that 
would have a net positive effect on all wages, but it would. These 
people are already working, and they're working currently, many of 
them, at sub-minimum wage levels. If we bring them up to minimum wage, 
it will mean an even playing field for all workers. There's a kind of 
rising tide effect that lifts all boats.
  Mr. POLIS. That's a good point because I, like yourself, I'm sure 
many of us sometimes hear from American workers. American workers say, 
hey, I'm frustrated because there are people that are here illegally 
working for less than minimum wage or working for cash. What I say to 
those American workers is, I say, that's exactly why we need 
comprehensive immigration reform. We need to make sure that people 
aren't allowed to compete under the table for cash. We're actually 
creating, by the failure of our own laws, an entire underground labor 
economy. And by the way, those workers aren't protected from abuse by 
their employers. Sometimes they do the work and they're not paid, and 
they can't sue.
  I have some very exciting news to announce, to break some news. This 
just broke on CNN that the bipartisan House group has reached an 
agreement on immigration reform, announced by Republican Representative 
Mario Diaz-Balart. So I know that the group has been working for some 
time. Many of us have encouraged them and supported their work. We 
certainly hope to be able to see the bill soon.
  So as the Senate continues the markup, hopefully there is a great 
additional dose of enthusiasm for us that it looks like here in the 
House our efforts will hopefully be moving forward as well on a 
bipartisan basis.
  Mr. TAKANO. I associate myself with the gentleman's comments. I am 
very heartened by this announcement. I will, of course, temper my 
enthusiasm until I actually see the elements of this compromise. But 
what many folks here are saying on the Hill--which I'll reveal here on 
the floor of the House--is I think there is great hope on both sides of 
the aisle that if we can pass comprehensive immigration reform it will 
be evidence, the first evidence in a long time, that this body is 
functional and can work and that our government can do great things. So 
I am cautiously optimistic, and thank you for sharing that information.
  Mr. POLIS. I thank the gentleman from California for his leadership 
on this issue. I agree that for Congress to ever be a trusted 
institution, it needs to solve problems. It needs to come up with 
practical, commonsense solutions. It's clear what that route is for 
immigration. It's not too different from what President Bush talked 
about that President Obama supports. It has long had bipartisan 
support. It's a comprehensive approach, not this piecemeal approach 
some talk about, oh, let's build a wall and then talk about

[[Page 7095]]

something else, or let's do something in high tech and then talk about 
something else. Look, those are band-aids and the patient is bleeding. 
I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. TAKANO. I agree. We need a holistic approach. I was very 
impressed that the AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce were able to 
come together and sign off on what Senators, the Group of Eight in the 
Senate, had devised.
  My goodness, if the Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO can come 
together, certainly Republicans and Democrats in this institution can 
come together, as well.
  Mr. POLIS. Like yourself, obviously, I refrain from any particular 
comments about the House package until I see it, but I'm confident that 
with bipartisan support, like the Senate bill has, hopefully this House 
package will address a lot of these issues that you and I have 
discussed today, making families stronger, restoring the rule of law, 
reducing crime, creating economic growth and improving Social Security. 
Hopefully those benefits are included in this package, which I am very 
excited to examine and look at in the days and weeks ahead. Hopefully, 
we can join our colleagues on the other side of the Capitol in dealing 
with this critical issue.
  Again, over 84 percent of the American people support a pathway to 
citizenship. You can't get 84 percent of the American people to agree 
on anything. And yet on this pathway for citizenship and immigration 
reform, you have 84 percent support.
  I hope that Congress heeds that call. I know the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Takano) is a leader in getting our colleagues to hear 
that call. He is joined by many of our friends, and it will take all of 
us working hard to ensure that Congress lives up to the expectations 
that the American people are setting and takes the right course on this 
for our country and for economic growth. I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. TAKANO. Thank you for this time to share our vision for moving 
forward with the American people. I wake up each day excited to come to 
work, to work on their behalf. Despite our divisions, despite the 
rancor we see sometimes on the various cable shows, it's an enormous 
honor to serve in this institution, and it's a great honor to serve in 
this institution with the gentleman. I must bid adieu. I have to get 
going, but thank you so much.
  Mr. POLIS. I thank the gentleman from California for highlighting the 
argument of economic growth and the critical nature of economic reform. 
I thank the gentleman.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to inquire as who how much time remains?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Colorado has 27 minutes 
remaining.
  Mr. POLIS. We have the unique opportunity here in the United States 
Congress to reflect the will of the American people. The will of the 
American people is clear in this regard. In my time here, seldom, if 
ever, have I seen an issue where 80 percent, 75 percent, 84 percent of 
the American people agree. And here we are, the faith community, the 
civil liberties community, the human rights community, the education 
community, the business community and the labor community all coming 
together to say, Congress, do something. And by the way, Congress, not 
do something like create some new program or do some new policy. It's, 
Congress, fix this. Only you can do it, Congress. The States can't do 
it. The States don't have control over this. Some nonprofit or private 
organization can't do it. Only the Federal Government and only the 
United States Congress can replace our broken immigration system with 
one that works for our country, one that reflects our country's need 
for human capital, for talent, for ideas and for innovation, one that 
helps make sure that we attract the best and brightest and hardest-
working people from across the world to deploy their talents here to 
make our country stronger in a legal way, one that restores the trust 
with law enforcement, improves public safety in our communities, allows 
community policing and police officers to win the trust that's so 
critical for them to fight crime that affects all of our communities.
  Mr. Speaker, I also rise today to talk about a commonsense issue 
that's received a lot of discussion in the press and continues to be on 
many of our minds, and that's how we can reduce violent crime in this 
country, gun violence and senseless murder and deaths that occur.
  Now, this is no easy question. My focus here has always been 
improving education. I truly believe that improving our schools and 
making sure that our kids have access to the great opportunity that 
this country offers is the best way that we can reduce crime.

                              {time}  1930

  But we can do more, Mr. Speaker. We can do more in a commonsense way 
to make it harder for criminals to acquire weapons.
  Now, how can we do this? Many States have already led the way. My 
home State of Colorado has long had a rule that has closed the gun show 
loophole and made sure that people that buy guns at gun shows have the 
same type of background check they would at a gun dealer. I think 
that's a commonsense rule that we should do nationally.
  I also think we need a national way to make sure that when somebody 
buys a gun, that there's a background check. In doing so, we need to 
make sure that there's no national registry of gun owners. We need to 
protect gun owners' privacy. We want to make sure it doesn't 
inconvenience law-abiding Americans who want to be able to buy guns at 
dealers--and have done so and will continue to do so. But this is easy 
to accomplish. The Senate discussed such a bill. I understand there are 
several proposals, as well, in this body. And I have seen data. This 
has broad support from the American people, and it should be a 
commonsense idea for many of us.
  There are people in this country who have lost the right to bear arms 
because they've committed a crime--armed robbery or rape--and as part 
of a judicial sentence they have lost that right. They may have lost 
the right to vote as well. Now, you're not going to stop them from 
getting a knife or a gun--no law will stop them from doing that--but we 
should make it harder. We should make it so they can't just go to a gun 
show and buy a gun for cash. There should be a background check to make 
sure that the person buying the gun is a law-abiding American and has 
the right to do that. I think law-abiding Americans want to protect 
their Second Amendment rights and want to make sure that it's not 
abused by criminals. I think that's a common step measure that I call 
upon my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to take up and pass to 
help reduce violence in this country.
  Mr. Speaker, I also want to talk about the urgent need to improve our 
schools. Across our country we have schools that many parents would be 
proud to send their kids to. We also have schools that continue to fail 
year after year, that anybody who has the means to have choice--
meaning, they're able to afford to be able to drive their kids 
somewhere else or pay a private school tuition--would never send their 
kids to that school. Thus, families that are essentially forced to have 
their kids go to that school have no choice, have no alternative. It's 
incumbent upon our school districts, our States, and, yes, our Federal 
Government because we, too, fund part of public education through IDEA, 
special education, to ensure that those schools don't continue to 
operate the way that they have been.
  That's why I introduced last session and will introduce again a 
school turnaround bill. This bill will help address the lowest 5 
percent of schools, the bottom performing 5 percent. We're talking 
about high schools that are dropout factories, where half the kids that 
go in the front door in 9th grade don't graduate in 12th grade. We're 
losing half of them. And what options do you have in life to support 
yourself and your family if you don't have a high school degree? It's 
hard, and it's getting harder in the 21st century information economy, 
Mr. Speaker.

[[Page 7096]]

  We need to turn around these schools, make the tough choices, empower 
the superintendents of those school districts to use the creativity 
that they have to turn those schools around. And we need to make sure 
that they take action. As I told one of our local superintendents in 
Colorado, our goal, through public policy at the Federal level, should 
be to give you, the superintendent, the flexibility for you to be able 
to do what works but not the flexibility to do nothing, because we know 
that in doing nothing we will fail to change models that fail.
  And whether the model that works is turning it into a charter school 
or extending the learning day or closing it down and opening three new 
schools in the same building, there's a lot of options, and many more, 
that a superintendent can choose from and apply, depending on the 
community needs and the buy-in from parents and families, which are 
important to make any education reform work. But it's critical that 
they take action, because without taking action, they're guaranteed 
more of the same.
  Mr. Speaker, I call upon my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to 
support comprehensive immigration reform today. In my time on the floor 
in the last hour--and I could continue for even longer to articulate 
all of the reasons why comprehensive immigration reform benefits our 
country. Whether one cares about the safety of our communities from 
crime, whether one cares about the public health and infectious 
disease, restoring the rule of law, securing our borders, preventing 
terrorism, growing our economy, high-skills jobs, making sure that our 
farmers can thrive and grow, making sure that families stay together so 
that their American kids can grow up in wholesome family homes, for all 
these reasons and more, I call upon my colleagues to support 
comprehensive immigration reform.
  I thank the Speaker for the time, and I yield back the balance of my 
time.

                          ____________________