It is an honor to introduce Rich Harrison to the committee.

Under the leadership of Senator Bennet, the former Superintendent of Denver Public Schools, Denver has recently emerged as one of the more promising cities for education reform efforts.

I appreciate Mr. Ellison bringing up employer verification. One of the key components of the Senate outline requires biometric employment verification. So this is not a Social Security number that could be used by somebody who is 6 foot 1…

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland, the distinguished majority leader, Mr. Hoyer.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Puerto Rico (Mr. Pierluisi), the sponsor of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, in brief response to the gentleman from Washington, all States, certainly including the residents of Puerto Rico, if they, in fact, become a State, would have the protections of the Second Amendment, as well as all of the…

In response to the gentleman from Georgia, we live in a Federalist system. States have the ability to determine what languages are recognized in an official capacity. I think it would be misleading to the people of Puerto Rico in the…

Mr. Speaker, I would like to emphasize that this bill is revenue neutral for the Federal Government and that all costs of the plebiscite will be paid by the Puerto Rican government. The United States is committed to democracy, and this…

Madam Speaker, I will be joined throughout the course of this evening by some of my colleagues, including the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Ellison) and others who might join us. We want to speak tonight about a topic that's been in the…

Thank you, Congresswoman Chu, for your leadership on this issue. Those are very powerful words that you shared. The stories that you shared, those individuals are not alone. There are hundreds of thousands of people across our country…

The people of this country are tired of this problem being used for political purposes from the left and the right. The American people just want to see this issue solved. The American people are smart; they recognize that the longer we…

Madam Speaker, how much time remains? The SPEAKER pro tempore. There are 17 minutes remaining.

Thank you. I am glad that my friend from Minnesota brought up the important issue of detention. The Department of Homeland Security and ICE had 380,000 people in 2009 who were detained at taxpayer expense. One of the things we fear with…

I thank the gentleman from Minnesota. With due respect, it is really the American people who have kept the fire under this issue. The American people do not want Congress to continue to ignore our broken immigration system. What would…

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez), the author of two of the amendments that were made in order under this rule.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 1305 provides for consideration of H.R. 2499, the Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009, under a structured rule. The rule provides 1 hour and 30 minutes of…

For the purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart). All time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only. General Leave

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 1305 and ask for its immediate consideration. The Clerk read the resolution, as follows: H. Res. 1305 Resolved, That at any time after the adoption of this…