[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12852]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                CELEBRATING AMERICA'S IMMIGRANT HERITAGE

  (Mrs. DAVIS of California asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, last week I joined my 
colleagues in a bipartisan trip to New York City to celebrate America's 
immigrant heritage. Together, we sailed toward the Statue of Liberty 
and Ellis Island.
  We stared down those dark, cascading waterfalls at the 9/11 Memorial, 
and remembered our ancestors at the Museum of Jewish Heritage and the 
African burial grounds. All around us were reminders of how people came 
to America, by choice or not, sometimes not by choice, but then hoping 
for a better life.
  Our country has been the better because of it. Whether it's the 
laborers who built our bridges or the scientists and leaders who made 
their mark in history, we couldn't be where we are today without 
immigrants.
  I was reminded of that as I witnessed a naturalization ceremony; 82 
people from 27 countries became new Americans that day, and you could 
see their beaming faces.
  Immigration is at our core, the moral fiber that binds us together 
and makes us stronger. Congress now has a responsibility to pass an 
immigration bill that is worthy of our rich heritage.
  Let's write the next chapter of American history, one that our 
children and our grandchildren can be proud of.

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