Richard Blumenthal

We are a better Nation when we have these 11 million people coming forward.

People who want to come to America are often among the best and the brightest everywhere in the world

Enforcing a broken system, a bad law or set of laws in the sense that it is irrational and arbitrary is very difficult to do effectively.

I will be very proud to vote for immigration reform.

They appreciate citizenship in a way that many Americans do not

And I appreciate that point, and the potential contributions especially among the higher-skilled people are one of the reasons that I am supporting the I-squared legislation that my colleagues Senator Klobuchar and Senator Hatch have taken…

We have a need in this country and can welcome many more immigrants legally than we have.

I think that what we are talking about now is whether America is a better country if we have an immigration system that brings 11 million people out of the shadows to register with this Government.

I think the benefits of setting definitions that serve the national interest of having those people who are brought here without any choice of their own, much like they are born here without choosing to be, are very, very much the same.

If 50 percent of their employees are H-1B visa holders... it suggests to you they know their economic model.

The worst thing to do now would be to do nothing.

I will just close by saying I have stated publicly and I hope that you will agree, the worst thing that we can do at this moment in America's history is nothing.

I do not want you to fire an American worker so you can hire an H-1B worker.

I am for increasing H-1Bs only if we offer the job to an American first at a reasonable wage.

I have spent a lot of time with them. I have come to know them.

I think we can be a better America, juster, freer, and more productive, if we bring those 11 million people out of the shadows.

I ask my colleagues to support this amendment. I yield the floor. PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.

I am pleased to be working with her on some of these sexual assault initiatives, and thank her for her leadership.

Senator Ayotte and I have helped to spearhead efforts to improve that contracting law that will enable more effective prosecution of those kinds of corrupt contracts.

My impression over the years from my first visit, and I have been three times and asked these questions every time I visited, is that there have been more words than action from the Pakistanis, and the continuing rhetoric, as you refer to…

I am very concerned with the contracts involving taxpayers' dollars of the United States that may go to companies that, in effect, benefit our enemy.

So we can count on your commitment that you will do hearings, workshops, meetings to investigate the impacts of GPOs on the health care marketplace, costs and competition?

Well, if I bring to your attention some of these issues, I hope that you will investigate them.

We are at a critical juncture with the consolidation that has taken place in many of our most important industries

The solid effort that you have made to reinvigorate antitrust law enforcement to preserve competition and promote jobs