On the recordJune 25, 2013
I want to take a little different slant on this, if I might, John and Rush. I actually want to turn to a topic, and the reason why I want to turn to this topic is because of what the Senate is doing, what it was doing yesterday and today. They're considering the comprehensive immigration bill. Of course, in that comprehensive immigration bill is a provision on the DREAMers. The point you're making about the Republican attempt to raise revenue without straightforwardly asking for it and put on the burden of our students, our young people, we wouldn't have to do this if this House would follow suit and pass a comprehensive immigration bill. I'm going to tell you why. I'm going to make an economic argument for why comprehensive immigration is good for our country and our economy. As the debate continues on immigration reform, the effect that fixing the immigration system would have on our economy is becoming quite clear. Opponents of immigration reform don't seem to understand the benefits of our broken system. Many of the undocumented immigrants in this Nation are already working, yet because of their legal status they are forced to pay into the underground economy with no labor protections and no way to pay into the system. We should allow these individuals to come out of the shadows and put them on the pathway to citizenship. As an example, say there's an undocumented worker in my district.…
