John Conyers: “I yield myself 2 minutes. I ask that the House carefully consider this amendment because it may in one respect represent…”

“I yield myself 2 minutes. I ask that the House carefully consider this amendment because it may in one respect represent a not-so-subtle attempt to dismantle the only program that guarantees that at least 4 percent of the new immigrants have a chance to come to this country from under-represented nations. The Diversity Visa Program is the chance for many people of color around the world to immigrate to the United States and pursue the same American dream that many of the ancestors of the Members here were able to pursue. There is no time in our Nation's history when race and ethnicity were not primary factors. So what we are asking here is that just as many great Americans have come to this country as refugees, I have no doubt that many great Americans have and are coming through the diversity program. You need only to look at the promise of young Freddie Adu, the teenage boy who is the newest star on the National Soccer League and the youngest professional player in the United States. He has got great promise, and but for his entry to the United States on the Diversity Visa Program, that promise might not have been realized. I urge my colleagues to consider this amendment carefully. I hope that it will be turned back. Let us not dismantle an important and valuable program. Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.”