[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4854]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           IMMIGRATION REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Lofgren) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, I think what we are engaging on today has 
the potential of being truly historic. We need a vote on immigration 
reform.
  Several weeks ago, I was home in the district I represent. I go home 
every week. The Secretary of Commerce was visiting in Silicon Valley. 
She gave a good speech. After she finished her speech, she invited 
questions. The very first question was from a young man--a scientist--
who said this:

       I started a company. I am about to hire four Americans. But 
     my visa is up next month. What am I supposed to do?

  As I was talking to that young man, another young man came forward--
another scientist who has just formed a company. He is about to go into 
a hiring mode, but his visa was about up.
  So when you take a look and listen to the people in Silicon Valley 
saying we are going to lose jobs in America because we have a 
dysfunctional immigration system, that shows the problem that we have 
allowed to fester.
  Recently, I met with farmers. They told me that they are not planting 
crops this year because they can't identify who is going to pick those 
crops. About 80 percent of the migrant farmworkers in America are here 
without their proper documents. Do I think that is a good situation? 
No, I do not.
  A number of years ago, when I chaired the Immigration Subcommittee, 
we had a wonderful witness, Dr. Richard Land, then the head of the 
Southern Baptist Convention, and this was his testimony. He said:

       We had for many years two signs at the southern border. One 
     sign said, ``No Trespassing,'' and the other sign said, 
     ``Help Wanted.''

  Those farmworkers who are here picking the vegetables that we will 
enjoy at our meals responded to that ``Help Wanted'' sign.
  Sometimes people say you should do it in the legal way. Get to the 
end of the line. And this is from someone who was a former immigration 
lawyer. I used to teach immigration law at the University of Santa 
Clara. The truth is, there is no line to get into. We have created a 
dysfunctional system that does not serve American interests.
  H.R. 15 is not a perfect bill. No piece of legislation is. But it was 
a bill that attracted broad bipartisan support in the United States 
Senate.
  This discharge petition says just one thing: Let's have a vote. Why 
would the Speaker of the House and the Republican leadership refuse to 
allow this body to have an up-or-down vote on that bill?
  A discharge petition is something that has been in the rules of the 
House for many, many decades. It has been used occasionally in the past 
to actually un-bottle-up bills that the leadership didn't want the body 
to vote on. Most recently, campaign finance reform came to the floor of 
the House because of a discharge petition.
  A lot of Members of the House say that they favor immigration reform. 
Here is an opportunity to hold every Member of this House accountable. 
If you favor reform of the immigration system, you should favor having 
an up-or-down vote on H.R. 15. If you favor an up-or-down vote, we 
expect you, no matter what your party designation, to sign this 
discharge petition so the House of Representatives may have an 
opportunity to address this question and vote ``yes'' or ``no'' on this 
bill.
  I hope that members of the public who are aware of the need for 
immigration reform to reform a system that is not serving our economic 
interests, that is breaking up families and leaving children in foster 
care while their parents are deported, will call their Members of the 
House of Representatives and ask them to sign this discharge petition. 
It is in the rules. It is what we expect.
  We need a vote.

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