*Administration of Barack Obama, 2013 *

**Statement on Senate Action on Immigration Reform Legislation **

*May 21, 2013 *

I congratulate the Senate Judiciary Committee on completing its work on S. 744, the "Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act." Thanks to the leadership of Chairman Leahy and a bipartisan group of eight Senators, the legislation that passed the Judiciary Committee with a strong bipartisan vote is largely consistent with the principles of commonsense reform I have proposed and meets the challenge of fixing our broken immigration system. The process for considering this legislation has been open and inclusive with multiple hearings, and more than a hundred amendments were considered and adopted, in many cases with bipartisan support. I applaud the Committee members for their hard work, especially Gang of Eight members, Senators Schumer, Durbin, Graham, and Flake. None of the Committee members got everything they wanted, and neither did I, but in the end, we all owe it to the American people to get the best possible result over the finish line. I encourage the full Senate to bring this bipartisan bill to the floor at the earliest possible opportunity and remain hopeful that the amendment process will lead to further improvements.

NOTE: The statement referred to Sens. Marco A. Rubio, John S. McCain III, Robert Menendez, and Michael F. Bennet.

*Categories:* Statements by the President : Immigration reform legislation, Senate action*.*

*Names:* Bennet, Michael F.; Durbin, Richard J.; Flake, Jeffrey L.; Graham, Lindsey O.; Leahy, Patrick J.; McCain, John S., III; Menendez, Robert; Rubio, Marco A.; Schumer, Charles E.

*Subjects:* Immigration and naturalization : Reform.

*DCPD Number:* DCPD201300355.