[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 16074]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           IMMIGRATION REFORM

  Ms. STABENOW. Thank you very much, Madam President.
  There is a lot of talk here in Washington and across our country 
right now about how to fix a very broken immigration system. The 
message the American people sent us earlier this month was very clear. 
I don't think anybody should miss it. They want us to work together, 
and they want us to get things done for the country and move things 
forward. They know we can still do big things when we put aside 
partisan politics and sit down together and work in the best interests 
of the country.
  I know that firsthand because of the farm bill. It was not easy. It 
was complicated. There were regional differences. There were partisan 
differences. There were differences between the House and the Senate. 
But we wanted to get it done. We stuck with it, we worked hard, and in 
the end, a lot of people working together made that happen. So we know 
how to do that.
  We know how to do that in the Senate on immigration as well because a 
whole different group of people across the aisle sat down with very 
different ideas. How do we strengthen the border? How do we have a 
system that works for agriculture and business? How do we create a 
pathway of earning their citizenship in this country? People worked in 
a very complicated situation, they worked together, and ultimately, 
after a lot of amendments and slogging it through on the floor, just as 
we did on the farm bill, we achieved that. We achieved that. We 
achieved that 510 days ago.
  So 510 days ago we passed overwhelmingly--I believe it was 68 votes--
a comprehensive immigration reform bill and sent it to the House of 
Representatives--510 days ago. What has the Republican House of 
Representatives done with that comprehensive, bipartisan bill that was 
sent to them 510 days ago? Nothing. A great big zero. They have done 
nothing. They refused to even have a vote on it. They refused to 
suggest changes to the bill and work on the opportunity to bring their 
ideas to the table. They refused to even debate the bill. Why? 
Amazingly--amazingly--it is because the Speaker and the Republicans and 
the House know it would pass if they brought it up. And the public 
looks at that and says: What? Are you crazy? You don't want to bring up 
a bill because you know it would actually pass on a bipartisan vote?
  But that is exactly what is happening. In fact, that is how it is 
supposed to work. There was a tremendous amount of effort by this body 
and by leaders on both sides of the aisle, who should feel very proud 
of the work that was done. It was sent to the House of Representatives 
510 days ago, and nothing has been done. Zero has been done.
  So I have a very simple message for Speaker Boehner: Let the House 
vote. Let the House vote. The time is now. The time is now to solve 
this problem, and it can be solved today if people want to do that.
  House Republicans still have an opportunity to show the American 
people that they can be trusted to do the work that people sent them to 
do--sent all of us to do. They can do it today. They can do it 
tomorrow. They can get this done before Thanksgiving. Everyone knows 
that the bipartisan Senate immigration bill would pass right now with 
both Democrats and Republicans supporting it if Speaker Boehner would 
simply let the House vote.
  As we in the Senate showed over a year ago, people on both sides of 
the aisle want to fix this broken system that hurts families, workers, 
businesses, and farmers. I could tell you story after story of crops 
being left in the field because of a broken immigration system. This is 
an urgent problem, and the time to act is now.
  If our Republican colleagues in the House don't want President Obama 
to use his authority to help fix the broken immigration system--just as 
every President, by the way, since President Eisenhower, including 
Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush, has done--all they have to do 
is simply vote. Just have a vote. Then we don't have to have this back-
and-forth about how do we work together on appropriations or how do we 
get all the work done that desperately needs to be done. Just vote. It 
is in their hands.
  We cannot afford to wait another 510 days to begin to address this 
urgent problem, which is why if the House will not act the President 
has no choice but to act. But the good news is that we don't have to 
wait.
  Americans didn't send us here to talk about impeachment or shutting 
down the government again. They sent us here to get things done. They 
sent us here to create opportunities for them to work hard and get in 
the middle class and stay in the middle class, which is harder and 
harder to do every day.
  So I would say to Speaker Boehner: Let the House vote. Let's get the 
bipartisan immigration bill on the President's desk today. This isn't 
about the President waving a red flag in front of a bull, by the way--
which is, frankly, a lot of bull--this is about waving the bill in 
front of the House of Representatives.
  Yoo-hoo, Mr. Speaker, you have a bill. You have a bill. It passed 
with 68 votes in the Senate. It will pass in the House of 
Representatives. It will avoid what you say is going to be a big fight 
and legal challenges. Just vote. It is that simple.
  Let's show the American people that we can put aside our differences, 
that we can work together and do what is best for the country. It is as 
simple as having a vote.
  Thank you, Madam President, and I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.

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