Post by bot on Jan 22, 2017 22:11:06 GMT -5
Hoyer Remarks at Press Conference with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on
President Trump's Immigration Agenda
WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) joined the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and immigration advocates at a press conference today following the Presidential Inauguration to discuss President Trump's agenda on immigration. Below is a transcript of his remarks:
“Thank you, Chair Lujan Grisham. And I thank all of you for being here. I want to thank my colleagues. My colleagues – for the most part, if not all – are children of immigrants. I am a child of an immigrant who came here from Denmark at the age of 32 in 1934. He came, as most people who came to our country, to seek opportunity. And in the process of them seeking opportunity, they helped build a strong and great nation.
“The poem by Emma Lazarus on the Statue of Liberty, says ‘send me your tired, your poor, your wretched refuse yearning to be free.’ They were not wretched refuse, at all. In fact, they were some of the most courageous, enterprising people in any country, who had the courage to leave their country, language, and culture to come to a new land. And they came to a new land, and they made it better. The President’s wife came from Slovenia for opportunity.
“The President’s rhetoric during the campaign was harsh, inappropriate, and ill-advised. Literally tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands perhaps, of young people whom President Obama said, ‘we want you here. We understand that this is your country. We understand that English may be your first language and you may not know the country that some may send you. And we want you to stay here’ And then he said, ‘parents, we want you here, as well.’ That was policy that enriched and strengthen our country.
“I’ve had a great privilege of standing with Linda Sanchez, now with Michelle Lujan Grisham, and this Caucus to hold high that torch, which the Statue of Liberty holds high, to say welcome.
“When you come here, do you have to behave? Should you come here without coming over our borders in an unauthorized fashion? Yes, we all agree that border security needs to be a critical component of immigration reform, but it’s not the only focus. The focus is to strengthen America, to give us an immigration system that works, so that people understand there is a path they can, in fact, pursue.
“And so I am here to stand with Michelle, my friends in the Hispanic Caucus, and, very frankly, with all of our Caucus that is united and in solidarity. Because this isn’t an issue just for Hispanic Caucus or any other caucus – it’s an American issue. This is who we are – a nation of immigrants, a nation who respects people for the content of their character – not their nationality, not their lineage, but the content of character and performance. And we welcome them.
“Thank you, Michelle, for allowing me to participate in this.
“We just heard a speech. It was about making America first. And we will make America first if the rest of the world and our own citizens perceive us as the country we have been. Forty percent of the Nobel prize winners from the United States of America were born overseas. They have made us better. They have made us stronger. They have made us more American.”
