Post by bot on Jan 14, 2015 22:13:14 GMT -5
Hoyer: Republicans Should Not Play Political Games with National Security, Include Extreme
Provisions that Tear Families Apart
WASHINGTON, DC – House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) delivered the following remarks today at a press conference with immigration advocacy groups United We Dream, Casa de Maryland, and America's Voice; Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Linda Sánchez (CA-38); Congressman Luis Gutiérrez (IL-4); Congresswoman Norma Torres (CA-35); Congressman Ruben Gallego (AZ-7); and immigrant families urging House Republicans to remove the partisan, anti-immigrant amendments they attached to must-pass legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security:
“We are now considering a bill which is central to the protection of Americans and America from those who would, through terrorist activities, put our people at risk. That bill should have been considered without any changes because there is almost unanimous agreement on the substance of that bill. The amendments, however, that the Republicans are tacking on to the bill, or at least trying to tack on to the bill to keep the Department of Homeland Security open, are inconsistent with our nation’s values and its history. They would tear families apart.
“I would tell you – as the Chairman on the Commission of Security and Cooperation in Europe, otherwise known as the Helsinki Commission, I spent a lot of time behind the Iron Curtain saying: ‘do not tear families apart. Allow families to be reunited. Allow husbands to join wives or wives to join husbands or brothers and sisters.’ Because, we said, that is an American value.
“How ironic it is that we now have to contend for a value that we hold dear, and that is the unification and stability of families. Democrats and some Republicans strongly oppose these extreme, draconian amendments, and I urge all Members to reject them, and I urge my fellow citizens to say to their Member: ‘this does not reflect our values.’
“These young people are Americans just as I am an American born of a Danish father. These young people might not have been born here, but they know nothing other than their American heritage. If Republicans want to debate immigration policy, they can. They should bring, however, a comprehensive immigration bill to the Floor like the one the Senate passed in 2013 – 560 days ago. It has now been more than 560 days since the Senate, by a vote of 68 to 32 – [an] overwhelming majority, that means almost everybody, two-thirds – voted to send a comprehensive immigration reform bill to this House. And there has been no action.
“In democracy we adopt that premise that we discuss things. Yes, we have differences, but in a democracy you work them out, and then you vote, you make a decision. The House has been precluded from discussing or deciding. Executive acts alone cannot fix our broken immigration system, but the President was right to act in the light of a failure to act by the House of Representatives and the adverse consequences that failure to act has had on families, on husbands and wives, on children.
“We need a legislative solution, which would require the Speaker and the Majority Leader, along with the Senate Republican Majority, to work with Democrats to bring a bipartisan bill to the Floor and then send it to the President for signature.
“Nobody in the House of Representatives believes that the immigration system is not broken. Is that right? Have you spoken to anybody, [Congresswoman] Linda [Sánchez], have you talked to anybody that thinks this system is not broken? I haven’t, and every week I have a colloquy with the Leader on the other side of the aisle – the Republican leader – and every week Mr. Cantor and Mr. McCarthy and others that I have spoken to have said it is a broken system, and all I say is: ‘Fine. Fix it. Fix it, and make America better.’
“I want to thank the Members and advocates who are here showing their support for this important issue and the millions who dream the same dream as so many Americans and wish to help build our country’s future, just like these young DREAMers I’m standing next to. And not only are they DREAMers, but their parents have dreams for them. Their aunts and uncles and others have dreams for them. And young people, we have dreams for you. We dream of the great things you’re going to do helping to make America a greater country, and we want to facilitate that.
“The underlying bill that is on the Floor this morning has strong bipartisan support, and in my opinion, unanimous support. There is no reason to play political games with our national security and [include] extreme provisions that tear our families apart.
“I speak on behalf of Leader Pelosi, who spoke so eloquently yesterday, and I speak on behalf, I think, of all of our Caucus as Democrats saying we want to make sure that not only do we make the homeland safer by passing a Homeland Security bill unfettered by negative amendments, which the President will veto -properly so - and then pass a comprehensive immigration bill that will fix a system and redeem the promise of that lady who lifts her lamp beside the golden door, welcoming, encouraging, and making America better through the immigrants who have come to our shores through the centuries.”
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