[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 10818-10820]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           IMMIGRATION REFORM

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I wish to thank my colleague from Rhode 
Island. As usual, he is graceful and thoughtful as well as being an 
outstanding legislator with a great deal of passion. I know he wants to 
speak on the issue he is ready to speak about, but, again, his grace 
and kindness are always present and I appreciate it.
  I return to the floor to just say some words of thanks. We had 
limited time before, so I wanted to speak to the issue. I wish to thank 
some people.
  First I thought I would mention how much a dream this comprehensive 
bill has been to so many people. At the top of the list, of course, is 
Ted Kennedy, who was one of the greatest human beings I ever met in my 
life. He had the immigration subcommittee before me. This wouldn't have 
happened without his guidance and leadership.
  Did we make changes from what he did? Obviously. But did his basic 
feeling, structure, and knowledge that it had to be bipartisan all 
carry forward on this bill? Absolutely. We know Ted is smiling as he is 
looking down on us today. We know he will continue to inspire not only 
those of us in the Senate but also the country as we move forward.
  I wanted to spend a few minutes--and I very much appreciate my 
colleague from Rhode Island for yielding--to thank my staff. We are 
lucky to have the leadership of Mike Lynch, our chief of staff. We are 
a team, and it is an amazing team. Everyone covers each other and 
everyone looks out for each other.
  Sometimes when I am upset and I say: Who did what, nobody did 
anything wrong. They are all watching each other's back. That is the 
lesson Lynch has taught all of them, and it is a great lesson. We are 
close-knit. We socialize. We have fun. They truly like each other. This 
certainly would not have happened without them.
  Before I talk about my staff, I wish to praise each of my colleagues. 
I have done that repeatedly on the Gang of 8. I mentioned this outside, 
but I want to mention it on the floor. I can say exactly the same thing 
for each of the eight in the gang: It would not have happened without 
their presence. It was an amazing team. Each contributed something in 
his own way. Each contributed a great deal in his own way, and at 
impasses different people rose to the floor and lifted us out of

[[Page 10819]]

those impasses. It was an amazing group.
  I am not going to get into each individual right now, but I do want 
to thank the Gang of 8. We have bonded, we have become friends, and we 
have accomplished something that will hopefully carry forward and 
become law.
  Now I wish to thank my staff. My staff, similar to all Americans, are 
the children or great-grandchildren or great-great-great-great-great-
grandchildren of immigrants. They have shared their stories through 
this process. I know this was deeply personal for each of them. Every 
week just about the entire staff got together for an immigration 
meeting, and everybody contributed.
  So I wish to take some time to thank them all. They worked so hard to 
fix this system. It was not only a dream of so many in this Senate, it 
was a dream of theirs. One thing is for sure, without them, we wouldn't 
be here.
  In fact, I think everyone in the Gang of 8 grew to respect our staff 
just as we respected their staffs. That is another great thing that 
happened, the bonding.
  I want to mention some of the individuals. First, my chief counsel, 
Stephanie Martz. She poured her whole heart and soul into the bill. She 
has young kids who have soccer games. She has a very busy schedule, but 
for this bill she missed bedtimes due to late-night meetings or 
conference calls. How many times on a Saturday did I talk to her when 
she was at some athletic event for one of her kids. I could hear the 
cheering and the running up and down in the background.
  But Stephanie has a unique ability to help build coalitions. When one 
group or another was upset--and believe me, that probably happened 
every 5 minutes in this legislation--there was Stephanie, soothing 
them, calming them but telling them the truth, so they trusted her. She 
was an indispensable part of our ability to get this done.
  Through the rough patches, she never gave up on our team. I know that 
Kyle, Nora, and Pip are going to be happy to have mommy back, and maybe 
there will be another ice hockey tournament in Rochester next year when 
whatever legislation we are working on then rises to the fore. To the 
great genius--and I started referring to him at our meetings as my 
immigration genius--and he was. The intellectual force, the creative 
force who propelled this effort was one Leon Fresco, the son of Cuban 
immigrants from Miami. I think it was about 5 years ago he took this 
job. He was a very successful immigration lawyer, but he took this job 
because he wanted to do immigration reform. He has worked on many other 
things. His creativity has shown its mark in ``Schumerland'' on so many 
different issues, but this was his dream, and he put every atom of his 
body into this.
  Like me, he is voluble. During our staff meetings we would yell at 
each other, and it became a joke because I once said: Shut up, Leon. So 
John McCain greeted him at each meeting: Shut up, Leon. And we all 
loved it. But Leon, your fierce determination, your innate 
intelligence, your deep love of this country, is great. And thanks to 
Mama Fresco, Leon's mom, who is so proud of her son. It was great to 
meet your parents who are immigrants, who are the American dream.
  The people I spoke about on the floor a few minutes ago are embodied 
in the Frescos. How about Sofie, Leon's wife. Sofie got pregnant during 
all of this, so he wasn't devoting 100 percent of his time to 
immigration reform, but close to it. And there she was, Sofie, 
indomitable and quiet, doing the job.
  Our legislative team is a great team--and everyone pitched in to do 
immigration--led by Heather McHugh. Heather's advice and counsel were 
invaluable. She communicated with our colleagues. Each one of our staff 
has great attributes. Heather is always wary of me going a little too 
far, a little too fast, or a little too quick, and she will come into 
the office and say: You know, you better think about this. Then I know 
I have trouble. But, again, she is incredible.
  Because immigration is so multifaceted, all of our staff contributed, 
including Meghan Taira, whom I consider--no offense to all my 
colleagues--the best health L.A. on the Hill. She helped create the 
ACA. But, of course, there were many benefit issues that occurred, and 
there was Meghan.
  Anna Taylor, the only person on our staff with a deep southern 
Arkansas accent, came from Blanche Lincoln's staff. There were tax 
issues and there she was, solving them all.
  John Jones was incredible. He stepped up and handled many issues. Dan 
Rudofsky and Veronica Duron drafted summaries and talking points and 
spreadsheets.
  When things got tough, Becca Kelly and Erin Vaughn, each the mother 
of children less than 1, let nothing get in the way of doing this while 
at the same time maintaining focus on their kids and the bill.
  It might surprise the Presiding Officer to know that I have a very 
good press team. Brian Fallon, Matt House, Max Young, Meredith Kelly, 
Lindsay Kryzak, Marisa Kaufman, and Josh Molofsky learned the substance 
of immigration and spun it into a beautiful web the public could 
understand.
  Our DPCC team, led by Ryan McConaghy, kept policy and press teams 
singing off the same praise sheet, keeping our caucus up to date.
  Then, of course, as every one of us, we have great administrative 
staffers. Alex Victor, who came to the office as a young kid from Long 
Island, as a young helper in the Long Island office, is now my 
unflappable executive assistant. No matter how tough and tense things 
get in our office--and they do--she is just as steady as a rock, 
getting things done. She and her colleagues, Megan Runyan, Alice James, 
Jessica Bonfiglio, Kristin Mollet, Rob Kelly, Ellen Cahill, Claire 
Reuschel all kept us administratively going.
  I mentioned the Members. They are great. I have so much to say about 
each of them. I want to thank Chairman Leahy, who is probably on his 
way back to his beautiful farm in Vermont, for shepherding this bill 
through the Judiciary Committee. Everyone has praised his open and 
inclusive process. It is well known.
  I want to thank Bruce Cohen. This is the capstone of his career. We 
all know how important he is to the Judiciary Committee. His big shoes 
were ably and elegantly filled by Kristine Lucius as chief council. But 
J.P. Dowd and Matt Virkstis, John Amaya, Lara Flint, Alex Givens, Chris 
Leopold, and Anya McMurray all did a great job.
  As most people know around here, Harry Reid is one of my best friends 
in the world, and his unwavering support and confidence that we could 
get this done was essential. He had the great staff who lent constant 
help to us: David Krone, Bill Dauster, Serena Hoy, Kate Leone, Bruce 
King, and Angela Arboleda all did a great job.
  The staffs of the other Members, I wish to mention a few of them 
also. I hope they are listening: Kerri Talbot, Karissa Wilhite, and 
Molly Groom of Senator Menendez's staff; Joe Zogby, Mara Silver, and 
Vaishalee Yeldandi with Senator Durbin; Jonathon Davidson and Sergio 
Gonzales who work with Senator Bennet. So many staffers.
  As I said, we got to know each other very well, through all the 
meetings. We had a lot of disagreements and tough arguments. We all 
stuck together. And Senator Feinstein's team--Senator Feinstein put 
that agriculture section together. Amazing. The growers and the farm 
workers are for this bill. That is because of the great leadership of 
Senator Feinstein. Chris Thompson, Neil Quinter, and Kim Alton all did 
a great job there.
  We worked as closely in this endeavor with the Republican staffs as 
well as the Democratic staffs, and I owe them a great deal of thanks: 
Cesar Conda, Sally Canfield, Enrique Gonzalez--let me pay him a 
compliment. He was sort of the equivalent--not quite, in my opinion, 
but close to the equivalent--of Leon Fresco on the Republican side. 
Also, John Baselice, Senator Rubio's staff; Mark Delich and Katherine 
Zill with Senator McCain; Matt Rimkunas, Sergio Sarkany, and David 
Glaccum with Senator Graham.
  When we had our meetings, all of these staffers were there.

[[Page 10820]]

  Chandler Morse, at first he was giving Senator Flake some tough 
advice, and just as Senator McCain would talk about Leon, I would talk 
about Chandler. I now owe him a dinner.
  I said: Chandler, I am taking you out to dinner if this bill passes 
the Senate. Pick your restaurant. Don't make it too expensive.
  And Elizabeth Taylor, who also works with Senator Flake. Then the 
great floor staff: Gary Myrick and Tim and Trish and Meredith and 
Tequia, Dan, Brad, Stephanie--they run the place like clockwork, as 
recently as today when there were more requests for time and people had 
to go home at 4 o'clock.
  Emma Fulkerson of Senator Murray's staff; Reema and MJ on Senator 
Durbin's staff who did a great job, and, frankly, Dave Schiappa and the 
Republican floor staff as well.
  We got a lot of help from the Senate appropriations, finance, and 
budget committees, and I thank them.
  I also want to thank the rest of my staff in New York and in DC. They 
are the wind beneath our wings. If we didn't feel good and safe in New 
York, we couldn't take the risks we do here Washington, and they make 
that possible. So I thank them all.
  Finally, Leon, always making sure everything goes exactly right. So I 
want to thank the legislative counsel staff who worked 24/7 to turn 
these legislative ideas into the 1,000-page bill, as has been remarked 
about over and over, and it needed that many pages because it was so 
complicated. But they did a great job as well.
  So, once again, to my staff, from Mike Lynch all the way through, I 
think, as every Member probably thinks, I have the best staff on the 
Hill. It is certainly the best staff I have ever had in 39 years as a 
legislator. Without them, we couldn't do it.
  So tonight we are going to celebrate the going away and the ascension 
of one of our old-time staffers, and we will all have a great time 
together. But I am blessed. I am blessed to have a family, my wife and 
daughters who put up with me through thick and thin. I am blessed to 
have two other families, my Senate colleagues, who I do regard as my 
family, and my staff, who I also regard as my family. So though I am 
not Irish, I have a big, big, big family, and they are the greatest, 
all three.
  With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor. I thank the Senator from 
Rhode Island for his graciousness.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I believe under the pending order I 
have the floor, but I wish to yield to the Senator from Illinois for a 
few minutes. Then I ask to be recognized at the conclusion of his 
remarks.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Rhode Island, and 
I thank the Presiding Officer. I wish to join my colleague, Senator 
Schumer, first thanking him for his leadership and bringing us 
together. With Senator McCain, they led the eight-Senator effort to put 
together this comprehensive immigration bill which was enacted by the 
Senate today by a vote of 68 to 32. Many thanks go around.
  I have acknowledged the other Senators who are part of that gang, but 
I wanted to give special recognition to four of my staffers who worked 
overtime and did an extraordinary effort to put this bill together: 
First and foremost, Joe Zogby, my chief counsel on the Senate Judiciary 
Committee. He was there at the creation of the DREAM Act, and he has 
been with me ever since, some 12 years of dedicated effort to pass this 
legislation on the floor of the Senate, and we did it today. It never 
would have happened if Joe hadn't devoted so much energy and talent 
into making this day possible. I also will tell my colleagues that his 
name is well known among those who are DREAMers. So many times Joe has 
saved them from deportation when they were just minutes or days away 
from that happening. He has a heart of gold and a great mind, and I am 
lucky to have him.
  Mara Silver, an extraordinary lawyer who took on aspects of this bill 
that were tough, including refugee and asylee sections that have 
virtually no constituency. There are sections of the law that affect 
some of the most downtrodden people on Earth who face oppression in 
other countries. She came to it with the heart of a lion and came 
through with some provisions that will give many of these asylees and 
refugees their chance to prove they need help and deserve help in the 
United States.
  And Vaishalee Yeldandi and Stephanie Trifone, who sat through meeting 
after weary meeting putting together the provisions we needed to work 
out. I can't say enough for the staff people when they do this type of 
Olympic and heroic effort, as under this comprehensive immigration 
reform. I am fortunate to have an exceptional staff both in the State 
and back in Washington.
  Those four deserve special recognition today for the extraordinary 
job they did.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I hate to interrupt the Senator. Would the 
Senator be willing to yield for 2 minutes so I can thank some people on 
the immigration bill? I promise I will take no more than 2 minutes.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, let me respond to the distinguished 
Senator. The answer is yes. I also see our distinguished chairman of 
the Finance Committee and his ranking member on the floor. I understand 
they have a colloquy they wish to engage in. Do they have an estimate 
as to how long they wish to engage in that colloquy?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, might I ask the Senator from Rhode Island 
how much time he wishes to speak?
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. I have about 15 minutes. What I propose to do--I do 
not know how long the Senators wish to take. What I propose to do is 
yield to Senator Graham for such time as he may need.
  Mr. GRAHAM. Two minutes.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. And then----
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I am fine. I think we should wait, let the 
Senator from Rhode Island proceed with his statement, and if the 
Senator from South Carolina wants to go ahead----
  Mr. GRAHAM. OK. That is fine.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Whatever the two Senators work out, great.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. I yield the floor to Senator Graham.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Carolina.

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