Political Quotes

“I thank my colleague, my friend from Michigan. Mr. Speaker, this is the second time this bill has been brought before this House for consideration, so it's clear my Republican friends recognize the urgency for expanding the number of visas for high-skilled workers, particularly students with STEM graduate degrees--a worthy goal. Yet rather than simply increase the number of visas, my Republican colleagues once again are presenting us with a false choice. Just like the previous bill, which failed, this one deceptively expands the number of STEM visas, but only at the expense of the successful Diversity Visa program, which has been the primary pathway used by generations of immigrants in American history. This bill not only eliminates that program, but it would also reduce the total number of available visas by preventing unused slots from rolling over to be transferred to another visa program. That just shows my colleagues still haven't gotten it from the recent election in which immigrants and minorities played a growing role, and it casts doubt on whether we're going to be able to come together to achieve meaningful immigration reform, frankly, with that attitude. The business community, particularly the high-tech employers in my district in northern Virginia, they get it about the need to expand the STEM program.…”