Harry Reid: “the Senate is now in the middle of an important debate on Iraq, but it wasn't so long ago that we found ourselves in an…”

“the Senate is now in the middle of an important debate on Iraq, but it wasn't so long ago that we found ourselves in an important debate on another issue, immigration reform. It took weeks of negotiations for the Senate to develop the basic framework for legislation that both Democrats and Republicans could support. Then it took several more weeks to work through dozens of amendments and pass a bill, a comprehensive immigration reform bill. The day we finally passed immigration legislation, I came to the floor to say it was a good day for the Senate but a day not for celebrating. News reports from all over the country this morning show why I was right. For example, from the Washington Post today: House Republicans have largely given up on passing a broad rewrite of the nation's immigration laws before the November elections. House GOP leaders said today they would hold hearings even before naming conferees. The truth is out. For all their tough talk about securing our borders, House Republicans have no intention of actually accomplishing the goal. They want to defeat comprehensive immigration reform of the kind we passed in the Senate, a bipartisan bill, and House leaders are willing to sacrifice the security of the American people to accomplish what I believe are their selfish goals. Let's be perfectly clear.…”