Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman very much for yielding. I also want to tell him how much I appreciate him raising this very important issue. There is no doubt that individuals brought to the United States as young children by their illegal immigrant parents are the most sympathetic group of people not lawfully present in the United States today, and that is particularly true of those who desire to serve in the Armed Forces of the United States. We should embrace these individuals whose goal it is to integrate into American society and live and work by the rules of our Nation. This is an issue that we plan to look at in the Judiciary Committee, and so I want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Becerra) also for raising the issue in the context of our overall efforts to deal with immigration reform, and if the gentleman from California would withdraw his amendment, I would commit to him to work with him in addressing the situation and immigration status of these individuals. This should and can be done in the broad spectrum of the entire immigration debate, which as you know we are fully engaged in in the House Judiciary Committee.”