Michelle Wu: “this amendment is more than a poison pill to campaign finance reform; it is a poison pill to our Constitution--to our…”

“this amendment is more than a poison pill to campaign finance reform; it is a poison pill to our Constitution--to our civil rights. There is nothing in this Constitution that says that the protections of the Bill of Rights extend only to United States citizens. Throughout it there is reference to people, not just citizens. There have been court decisions time and time again that have extended the protections of the Constitution to all persons living within the United States. We have had a great problem in the Congress making a distinction between illegal residents and legal permanent residents. Legal permanent residents have gone through all the processes. They have spent years to even come to the United States. They have come here with the purpose of being lawful, participating people in this great democracy. They play important civic roles and pay federal, state and local taxes. They serve in the military and are deeply affected by political decisions. Nearly 20,000 legal permanent residents are now serving voluntarily in the military and playing key roles in our nation's defense against terrorism. Moreover, more than 20 percent of the Congressional Medal of Honor recipients in our nation's wars have been legal immigrants, many of whom later became citizens of this country. Why are we afraid of these legal residents? We should not be. We should be welcoming them as participants in this democracy.”