[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11197-11198]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       IMMIGRATION AND ECONOMICS

  (Mr. VEASEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, after hosting a special screening of ``The 
Dream is Now'' at the Rose Marine Theater on the north side of Fort 
Worth, I can assure you that the hundreds of constituents who attended 
the event represent a microcosm of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. 
who need the U.S. to act now on comprehensive immigration reform.
  The dream for 11 million to come out of the shadows and contribute to 
the only country they have ever known rests in our hands. In my home 
State of Texas alone, immigrants paid $1.6 billion in State and local 
taxes. The economic contributions of immigrants demand an immigration 
system that responds to the rapidly changing 21st century economy. We 
all agree that our current immigration system is broken. The Senate 
bipartisan bill was a start, and it is proof that a long-term, 
practical solution on immigration can be achieved.

[[Page 11198]]

  I will continue to work with like-minded colleagues to ensure a 
practical and fair solution. We can no longer afford piecemeal 
solutions that are detrimental to our society and to our economy.

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