Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to the rule and the shameful Border Security and Immigration Reform Act. I am dismayed and embarrassed that the Republicans are attempting to claim that this bill is a compromise. This partisan anti-immigrant legislation is the opposite to the idea of compromise. If Republicans were serious about compromise and protecting the Dreamers, they would have allowed the bipartisan discharge petition and queen-of-the-hill rule to move forward. Instead, Republicans have spent the last 10 months ignoring the will of the American people and holding Dreamers and young immigrant children hostage to implement their hardline agenda. This legislation does not provide a path to citizenship. It eliminates asylum protections, drastically cuts legal immigration, removes basic requirements for safe and humane detention, fails to end family separation, and does nothing to reunite the children who have been separated from their parents. Some of these children are being held 2,000 miles away from their parents, including in my district in New York, without any idea where their parents are or if they will ever see them again. This is cruel. What we need is a compassionate solution with a path to citizenship and reunification of these families. Instead, this bill is an attack on family values and an insult to our country's heritage as a beacon of freedom and opportunity for all.”