Political Quotes

“I am here today, unfortunately, to talk about the continuing inaction of this body on immigration reform. It has been 159 days since the Senate passed a commonsense immigration reform bill securing our borders, creating jobs for Americans, restoring the rule of law, requiring employment verification, uniting families. And this body has failed to act. The House's failure to act on immigration reform has already cost our economy over $6 billion. Today, Madam Speaker, I want to talk about the human cost as well. In the week following the Thanksgiving holidays, I want to recognize those individuals that are suffering because of our inaction, families that are torn apart, immigrant workers so critical for our economic success, living in the United States, who even helped put our Thanksgiving dinners on the table this year. I want to begin by telling the inspiring story of a Capitol Hill staffer, sadly, a former Capitol Hill staffer, Erika Andiola. I had the opportunity to meet Erika and her mother today, and I hope that her story will inspire this body to finally reform our broken immigration system. Erika wrote this letter to many of her friends, including some of your staffers, Madam Speaker, just the other day about why she is leaving: Dear friends, today is my last day on the Hill. While ``last day on the job emails'' are customary, I wanted to share the unfortunate reason I am leaving.…”