Michael Bennet: “I wish to say, through the Chair, thank you to the Senator from Missouri for her advocacy on behalf of our service men…”

“I wish to say, through the Chair, thank you to the Senator from Missouri for her advocacy on behalf of our service men and women. And I think she should have made no assumption about yielding the floor to me, but I am happy to take it, if the Senator is done. Madam President, I come to the floor today, as I did yesterday, to talk about this incredible opportunity we have before us with this bipartisan immigration bill that we are considering now in the Senate, in regular order in the Senate. I hope we have a process on the floor, now that we are here, that mirrors the one the Judiciary Committee had: an open process where people can offer amendments they care about, one that has a spirited debate on a variety of important issues, so the American people can have the benefit of a fully transparent and deliberative process over these important issues. In the Judiciary Committee process alone, over 300 amendments were filed, and 200 were considered, and over 140 of them were actually adopted by the committee. That is the way this place ought to work. I think it will strengthen this bipartisan bill to continue to take other people's ideas. What we did not do in the Judiciary Committee, and what I hope we will not do on the Senate floor, is accept amendments that will disrupt a very carefully negotiated balance in the so-called Gang of 8 or Group of 8--four Democrats and four Republicans--who worked hard together to try to get to a place that could actually work.…”