Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from this Chamber today. I would like the Record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall votes 322 and 323.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from this chamber on June 7, 2005. I would like the record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall votes 228 and 229.

I also inadvertently missed rollcall vote 192 on May 19, 2005. I would like the record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall vote 192.

Mr. Chairman, I was briefly absent from this Chamber today and inadvertently missed rollcall vote 250. I would like the Record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on rollcall vote 250.

Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to talk about family values and creating an immigration system that better values families, a system that keeps families strong and, most importantly, keeps them together.

I know the issue of family values is a top priority for the President and for many in this Chamber, but when it comes to the issue of immigration, I am afraid our Nation's efforts to protect families, to keep mothers and fathers, parents and children together has fallen far short.

So let me begin this evening by highlighting an example of the tragic consequences of our failed immigration policies and its disastrous and often destructive affects on hard-working families in my district.

Meet the Benitez family. Rodolfo Benitez is a supervisor at the Civic Opera House's Tower Club. He is a U.S. citizen who works extremely hard so his children in the picture, who are also citizens, can get a good education and can realize all that our country has to offer. They are a great family. They are active and well-liked, respected in their community. And if you ever get a chance to meet Rodolfo, Jr., Brenda, Andrea, and their new baby, Eric, you will quickly realize that they are all we could wish for in children.

But, Mr. Speaker, while this story may appear on the surface to have all the makings of the American dream, our Nation's convoluted immigration laws are making life a nightmare for the Benitez family, because about a year ago, Rodolfo's wife Maria was deported without time to even get her life in order. As the Chicago Tribune wrote, ``Her school-age children, who returned home one day with the panicked question: 'Where's mommy?' ''

As parents, can anyone in this body imagine having to answer that question? Can anyone in this body imagine explaining to these beautiful, young children that their 4-month pregnant mother was being deported 2 days before Mother's Day with barely enough time to kiss her children goodbye? Can you imagine telling your children that they will not have the opportunity to see their new baby brother when he is born, because the Government of the United States and its immigration policy says, we are going to deport her? It is simply heart-wrenching.

But in cities and small towns across our country, there are thousands of families facing the exact same situation as the Benitez family, because too often, our immigration system tears families apart, leaving single parents to fend for themselves and leaving children to grow up without a loving mother or father. Too often their stories are never told, and defenseless children and parents are forced to suffer in silence.

In the case of Mrs. Benitez, we were fortunate enough to get her a temporary visa to return from Mexico to the United States so she could receive proper prenatal care and ensure that there were no complications with her pregnancy, but that visa expires this summer, and, after that, our immigration system, our law enforcement system will take Mrs. Benitez back to Mexico and take her away from her American citizen children and her American citizen husband. Who in this body can say that is right?

No family should ever be faced with these questions. No mother or father should be faced with this pain and anguish. No family should be forced to compromise their values.

Mr. Speaker, I respectfully ask the President and this body not to remove Mrs. Benitez, Maria Benitez, from her American citizen husband, her children, and her community. I respectfully ask that we do everything in our power to allow her the opportunity to remain a full and productive member of the United States of America. For the sake of the Benitez family and for the sake of millions of others in similar situations, let us work in a bipartisan fashion toward a much-needed, comprehensive, family-driven immigration policy in this country, because we need a system that allows people to come out of the shadows and work here legally, safely, and humanely. We need a system that regulates the future flow of workers so that it greatly enhances our border security through a combination of cutting-edge technology, improved cooperation, and increased resources.

We need an immigration system that deals directly with the undocumented who are living, working, and contributing to a better and more dynamic America. We need a system that is tough and enforceable. We need a system that would eliminate the exploitation and abuses that are part of our underground economy.

Mr. Speaker, let us work together to create an immigration system that works for families, works for businesses, works for our community and does not take families like the Benitez family, and I want to reiterate, there are ten of thousands in the United States of America, American citizen husbands and American citizen wives being separated from spouses and from their American citizen children. Let us have real family values. Let us have an immigration system that keeps families united and together.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from this Chamber today. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall votes 241 and 242.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from this chamber on May 10, 2005. I would like the record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall votes 162 and 163.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from this chamber today. I would like the Record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall votes 171, 172 and 173.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to discuss ways we can work together to create an immigration system that better reflects the enormous contributions immigrants make every day, respects our Nation's proud history of

welcoming men and women to seek a better life, and better protects our homeland by bringing people out of the shadows. And today I thought we could continue our discussion of mending borders with a quote.

The late Senator Robert F. Kennedy once said, ``Our attitude toward immigration reflects our faith in the American ideal. We have always believed it possible for men and women who start at the bottom to rise as far as their talent and energy allow. Neither race nor place of birth should affect their chances.''

Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, our current immigration system is falling far short of those ideals. But it is my hope that we can work in a bipartisan fashion to ensure that our Nation's immigration policies and the practices better embody Senator Kennedy's eloquent words.

Because the struggling farm worker in Washington State who endures brutal working conditions and little pay to support his family deserves the right to be treated with dignity and to have a clear path to permanency for his sacrifice. Because the restaurant worker in Chicago who each day faces endless hours of washing dishes in the dank basements of our swankiest eateries to support her children has earned the right to keep her family together without fear of deportation. And because the factory worker in North Carolina who tolerates grueling days so his loved ones may one day realize the American Dream should be protected from exploitation and discrimination.

These hard-working immigrants are part of the fabric of our Nation as surely and completely as those who came before them. And from coast to coast in big cities and small farm towns, they are serving as America's economic backbone and as a source of pride and progress for the future.

Mr. Speaker, our Nation depends on immigrants' labor, and I hope we can create an immigration system as dependable as they are.

So tonight, rather than focusing on divisive words of people like Lou Dobbs, let us focus on the words of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who recently stated at a Committee on Financial Services hearing that: ``As I've said before, I'm always supportive of expanding our immigration policies. I think that immigration has been very important to the success of this country. And I fully support it.'' Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

Rather than unfairly attacking imigrants for filling jobs Americans will not do, let us focus on the words of President Theodore Roosevelt, who said, ``This country will not be a permanently good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a reasonably good place for all of us to live in.'' President Roosevelt's words are why in cities across the country today, workers and advocates, religious and business leaders are standing together to strongly support comprehensive immigration reform.

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, and I can assure the Members that this town is gearing up for another party. And while the immigrants appreciate the mariachis and marching bands, the speeches and the songs, what they really want is an immigration system that works and keeps their families united. A system that allows them to be full and productive members of our society. Because, Mr. Speaker, we cannot simply just take their labor, their sweat and their toil and then subjugate them into the shadows of a second class citizenry. We need a system that allows people to come to our country in a safe, orderly, and legal manner.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from this Chamber today. I would like the record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote No. 150.

Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to continue my ongoing efforts to offer real solutions to fix our immigration system and to highlight the real contributions of our Nation's immigrant community.

Last week, we talked about CNN's Lou Dobbs and his ``Broken Borders'' segment. We talked about how Mr. Dobbs uses his show to offer a venue to anti-immigrant extremists. We talked about how, between all of his regular guests, one would be hard-pressed to find a solution to the challenges we face, because they would rather demagogue and divide than offer tangible ideas or pragmatic proposals. I guess they think it is better for ratings, better for raising money for their organizations, or better for riling up their membership.

Well, let me say this: It is not better for America. It is not better for America to do nothing about an immigration system that hurts families, hampers businesses, and harms communities.

So, this evening, I thought we could continue our discussion on mending borders, and I thought we could do it by answering a few questions that Mr. Dobbs left unanswered at the end of his show last week.

Let me start with Ray from Michigan's comment. Ray wrote the following to Mr. Dobbs: ``Isn't hiring illegal aliens just another way to outsource labor? The money doesn't stay in the United States.''

Well, Ray from Michigan, since Mr. Dobbs did not refute the inaccuracy of your statement, let me point you to a recent study by the Inter-American Development Bank.

According to the study, approximately 16.7 million U.S. workers born in Latin America had a combined gross income of $450 billion last year, of which 93 percent was spent locally. That means billions of dollars spent at local stores for local services, that means hundreds of thousands of jobs created. Just look at Chicago. According to a study by the Center For Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois, the estimated 220 undocumented immigrants in the Chicago

area alone added $5.5 billion to the local economy, creating more than 31,000 jobs.

So I would simply and respectfully say to Ray from Michigan that immigrants make enormous contributions to our economy and to our communities, and we should work together to create a system that allows them to come out of the shadows and work here legally, safely, and humanely.

Now, let's go to Judy in Belvedere, Illinois. Judy wrote the following to Mr. Dobbs: ``I feel like this country is finally waking up to the fact that the illegal population is draining our country of millions of taxpayers' money.''

Let me respond with a few points, the first being that all immigrants pay taxes, income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, gasoline taxes, cigarette taxes, every tax when they make a purchase. As far as income tax payments go, sources vary in their accounts, but a range of studies find that immigrants pay between $90 billion and $140 billion in Federal, State, and local taxes.

And let us not forget the Social Security system. Recent studies show that undocumented workers sustain the Social Security system with a subsidy as much as $7 billion a year. Let me repeat that: $7 billion a year.

Mr. Speaker, I know I have provided a lot of facts and figures this evening, so let me close with a newspaper quote describing immigrants: ``These people are by their nature unruly and not fit for civil society and government. We have little hope of containing them, other than by force of law.''

Somebody writing to Lou Dobbs? No. The source of the quote, an editorial in the esteemed New York Times. In their defense, it was in 1895.

And what unruly, ungovernable misfits was the New York Times writing about? Italian immigrants.

Now, my point in reading this quote is not to be critical of the New York Times or, let me be clear, to say anything disparaging about Italian immigrants.

My point, I hope, is obvious.

Uncertainty and fear and ignorance about immigrants, about people who are different, has a history as old as our Nation. Boston and Philadelphia papers in the early 19th century editorialized against the Irish who they said were ruining our Nation, for the only real Americans, those, of course, being of English ancestry. It is not new or unusual for the real Americans, meaning those immigrants who came to America a little bit longer ago, to fear the outsiders, the pretenders, the newcomers. But I think we have an obligation to set the record straight.

Because the truth is, today's immigrants, as they have for generation after generation, work the longest hours at the hardest jobs for the lowest pay, jobs that are just about impossible to fill. They pick our fruit, they care for our children and elderly, they change bedpans, they clear our tables and wash our dishes. And they do those jobs not because they want to take away anything from America, but because they want to give their skills, their sweat, their labor, for a better life and to help build a better America, just as those who came before them.

I hope we in this body can work in a bipartisan manner to ensure that our immigration system can better reflect their contributions.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from this chamber today. I would like the record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall votes 133 and 134.

Mr. Speaker, on April 14, 2005, I was unavoidably absent from this chamber. I would like the record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote No. 107 and ``no'' on rollcall vote No. 108.

Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to begin what I hope will be the start of a constructive dialogue about our Nation's immigration laws.

There has been a lot of heated rhetoric about this topic in recent months. But what I believe has been lacking from this debate is a discussion of real solutions and an accurate portrayal of the real contribution of our Nation's immigrant community.

In Congress, on cable shows and in newspaper columns across the country, we witness undocumented workers being unfairly and inaccurately blamed for all of our Nation's ills. In fact, it seems as though there are some cable show hosts out there who have made this practice the cornerstone of their programming. Just look at Lou Dobbs and his ``Broken Borders'' segment. If you ask me, it should be called the ``Broken Record'' segment. Because night after night after night, it is the same thing. It is about giving a platform to anti-immigrant extremists so they can espouse their misguided, misleading, and often malicious views.

Mr. Speaker, I am the first to admit that our Nation's immigration system is simply not working. It is not meeting the needs of our Nation, it is damaging families, and it is hurting businesses. But rather than targeting Windex-wielding cleaning ladies, we should be talking about practical solutions.

Do these individuals actually believe we should deport the more than 10 million undocumented working men and women working in this country? Do they think that is truly the answer? Let us say they say yes. Do they think our Nation has the will or the requisite resources to round up these individuals and ship them all off? If that is the case, I would simply ask them, what would life be without the more than 700,000 undocumented restaurant workers washing dishes and cleaning tables, 250,000 household employees, or the almost 1 million undocumented farm workers? These industries where these workers toil would literally come to a screeching halt if not for their labor. Their absence would cripple entire communities. Fruits and vegetables would rot on the vine, office buildings and hotels would go uncleaned, and children would go unattended.

So this evening, I thought I would set the record straight and give the folks at CNN and other news outlets a little unsolicited editorial advice. I think we should be talking in this country about mending borders. Rather than a segment about broken borders, why not create a segment about mending borders on your stations? How about a segment where elected officials, policy analysts, and immigration experts on all sides of the political spectrum discuss ideas and proposals for fixing our flawed immigration policy? How about, instead of endless footage of workers crossing the border, we see footage of real contributions of immigrants to our agricultural industry?

I wish I could turn on the television set one night and see scenes like this, by Rick Nahmias. This is the face of our immigrant community, right here, Mr. Speaker. It is back-breaking, thankless labor. These men and women are exposed to dangerous pesticides and punished by brutal working conditions. They lack safety equipment and have no place to send their children to school. Many of these workers wake up at 2 in the morning to take a bus to our fields, and they do not return until long after dark.

But this is why we have fresh fruits and vegetables at our grocery stores and on our kitchen tables. It is men and women like this in this poster who sustain our $30 billion agricultural industry. According to the Department of Labor, at least half the 1.8 million crop workers in the U.S. are undocumented. That is the Federal Government.

I would like to show the next poster, one we never see on TV. The subtitle of the article is ``Jobs Americans Won't Do.'' I wish everybody would read the front page of The Wall Street Journal on March 11. The Wall Street Journal article focuses on the challenges growers have finding workers. For example, ahead of a recent lettuce harvest, one grower took out ads in local papers for field workers to pick up the lettuce. He needed about 350 workers. The grower got one reply, just one reply. Mr. Speaker, the simple truth is our aging, more educated workforce is unwilling to pick the lettuce.

I do not blame them. It is truly arduous work. So rather than attacking immigrants for filling these important jobs and for sustaining our vital agricultural industry, let us talk about creating a system that allows them to come out of the shadows and work here legally and safely and humanely. Rather than unfairly attacking immigrants for draining entitlements, let us talk about the undocumented workers who are here in this country and, according to the Social Security Administration, subsidize our Social Security system by $7 billion. Unfortunately, I have yet to see a segment about this on the cable channels.

Mr. Speaker, rather than focusing on the fiery rhetoric that boosts cable ratings, I would rather we focus on the words of the late Pope, John Paul II, who said, Undocumented migrants are the most vulnerable of foreigners. With those words as our guide, I hope we can work together to create an immigration system that is reflective of their enormous contribution and the greatness of this Nation.

Mr. Speaker, on April 6, 2005, I was unavoidably absent from this chamber. I would like the record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall votes 94 (H. Res. 190--Honoring the life and achievements of His Holiness Pope John Paul II and expressing profound sorrow on his death) and 95 (H. Res. 148-- Supporting the goals and ideals of Financial Literacy Month).

Mr. Speaker, on March 14, 2005, I was unavoidably absent from this chamber. I would like the record to show that, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea,'' on rollcall votes 66, 67 and 68.