[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11608]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       THE NEW AMERICAN COALITION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago, I was on the HBO show 
``Real Time'' with Bill Maher on a Friday night, and I had a chance to 
talk with Ann Coulter who, as you might have guessed, I don't have on 
my speed dial for regular conversations. It was a couple of days after 
Donald Trump announced he was running for the Republican nomination 
because he thought Mexican immigrants were criminals, drug dealers, and 
rapists.
  When it was my turn, I told Ms. Coulter--and, by extension, Mr. 
Trump--that what they were saying about Mexican immigrants would serve 
as a voter registration machine to turbocharge voter registration in 
the Latino and immigrant community, all because of their particularly 
mean and--frankly, let's be honest--racist attacks on Mexican 
immigrants.
  It was particularly important that I was in California for the show 
because I was watching the Republican Party make exactly the same 
mistake they made in the 1990s when it lost control of the politics in 
California.
  By supporting extreme anti-immigrant policies to kick kids out of 
school and cut off families from being part of our society, California 
went from a purple State that had given the Republican Party important 
leaders like Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan and, in just a few years, 
was transformed into a deep shade of Pacific blue.
  Why? It is because millions of immigrants became citizens; millions 
of immigrant citizens registered to vote; and millions of registered 
voters voted to punish the Republican Party for being mean, 
shortsighted, and for offering demagoguery, not real solutions to 
issues.
  This brings me back to Mr. Trump, who is trying to be the standard 
bearer of the anti-immigrant wing of the Republican Party and trying to 
define the party as one that will fight against immigrants it sees as 
murderers, drug dealers, criminals, and rapists.
  Jan Brewer has endorsed Trump, and there he was, this past weekend, 
standing with Joe Arpaio in Arizona. Democrats could not paint a 
clearer picture if we tried. You should understand that, when Donald 
Trump said Mexican immigrants are criminals, what do I and other Puerto 
Ricans hear? I hear him saying all Puerto Ricans are criminals; and, as 
far as the Republicans are concerned, we all are.
  Millions of others here--Hondurans, Colombians, and Dominicans--it is 
clear to all of us that what he is really saying is that all Latinos 
are suspect, whether we were born here or not.
  Look, Trump's stereotyping is nothing new. Every single wave of 
immigrants has met the same resistance. They say they are lazy, they 
are bringing crime and diseases, that they are not like us, and they 
are coming to kill our sons and rape our daughters.
  Whether you came to Chicago from Mexico a decade ago or from 
Mississippi in the 1950s to escape Jim Crow, you heard the same thing. 
If you came to New York from Ireland or came from Sicily a century ago, 
it has always been the same thing.
  I say that Latinos should do what the Irish and the Polish and the 
Italians did, become citizens and vote. To my constituents and anyone 
today that is offended by what Donald Trump stands for, I have a simple 
message: Become a citizen--``hazte ciudadano.''
  There are more than 8.8 million immigrants who hold green cards and 
meet the residency requirements and are eligible to apply for 
citizenship today. That includes about 5 million Latinos who can apply 
to become citizens today.
  Mr. Speaker, let me fill you in on a little secret. With fee waivers, 
up to 20 percent of all of those 8.8 million will pay absolutely 
nothing for their citizenship application. Becoming a citizen for free 
so you can make it clear that you are offended by Donald Trump, it is 
poetic and patriotic. Rather than renew your green card for $450, 
become a citizen for about $230 more, or zero if you are part of the 20 
percent.
  Look, Mr. Speaker, almost all of the immigrants in this country are 
going to remain in this country until the day they die. Let's be 
honest. For the millions who meet the requirements of citizenship, I 
say take the step, learn the language, learn our history and how our 
government works, and take the test. Every time you see Trump's face on 
your TV, vow to learn a little more English or a few more history facts 
so you can take the citizenship test.
  Let's turn the ignorance and the hatred of a TV personality running 
for President and turn it into something that strengthens democracy for 
all Americans.
  You know what, if millions of people naturalize, become citizens, and 
we add to that the million Latino citizens who this year will turn 18, 
plus all of our allies in the African American community, the LGBT 
voters, younger voters, environmental voters, women voters, Asian 
voters, and union voters that are being pushed away by the Republican 
Party, all the people they don't want in their coalition constitute a 
majority of Americans.
  Together, we are the new American coalition that will dominate 
politics for decades to come; and together, we will create a stronger, 
more inclusive, and more egalitarian Nation.
  Let's turn Trump's negative words into something positive. That is 
how you deal with bullies and bigots.

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