Bipartisan Immigration Reform

Floor Speech

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Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Escobar for not only yielding her time but also for welcoming me and many others to her community just a few days ago.

Last week, I had the opportunity to visit our southern border by way of El Paso. This was my second time to the border. Very similar to the op-ed that I published in Newsweek earlier today, I share a little bit of my reaction to this very important and eye-opening congressional delegation that I was able to participate in.

If you are a Pennsylvanian like I am, you know that we just observed Groundhog Day, and Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow, so we can all expect an early spring. At our country's southwest border, it feels like every day is Groundhog Day. Like so many Americans, I am a combination of angry and frustrated and heartbroken by what continues to happen there day after day and year after year and decade after decade.

We know that our immigration policies have to align with the shared values of our country. We are a country that was built primarily by immigrants, and we must welcome new arrivals compassionately while also protecting and securing our safety and our economy.

My community is, indeed, thousands of miles away from the southern border, in the suburbs of Philadelphia. We face unique challenges every day regarding immigration, but what is not unique about my community, indeed about every community, is that we have felt the impact in some way of our fractured and broken immigration system.

My visit to the southern border last week was not my first. Previously, I had the opportunity to go to Brownsville, Texas, and these trips have taught me that our system is broken but, indeed, can be repaired.

I have seen the efforts firsthand of important changes that Congress here has made and implemented since my first visit. Gone are the dehumanizing cages and the literal smell of humanity. In their place is a clean and dignified environment, centered on the health and the well- being of the migrants and of the incredibly dedicated Americans who work on behalf of our country. There is still clearly an enormous amount of work that needs to be done to secure our border, with enhanced processes, more staffing, and better systems, but the difference is palpable.

Most significantly, though, what has not been improved is the volume of migrants and the fact that there is still no other path than this desperate one for people who seek a better life in this vibrant and healthy economy. We don't need more of the same expensive Band-Aids but, rather, we need real reform, with more legal pathways to come here and to participate in our Nation's next 250 years.

I am committed to bipartisanship and to securing our border, and I am asking the very same of Congress. Specifically, I am asking the very same of our Speaker. The message that I share today is this: Our Republican leadership in Congress needs to commit to bringing bipartisan immigration reform bills like Veronica Escobar's bipartisan Dignity Act to the floor for a vote and now.

As an example, here is what the Dignity Act would do:

Number one, it would provide more money for CBP and border infrastructure to prevent illegal immigration.

Number two, it would require employers to verify the immigration status of workers and to ensure that they are here lawfully.

Number three, it would provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, who are the children of immigrants who came here when they were very young.

Number four, it would establish a path to permanent residency status for eligible individuals without lawful immigration status who meet various requirements, including paying into a fund to provide training for U.S. workers.

Let us pause and think about what I have just shared--policies that the vast, vast majority of Americans agree on. If we, as a Congress, are not passing legislation that the vast, vast majority of Americans agree on, I truly believe, as my colleague Representative Elissa Slotkin mentioned, we are derelict in our duties.

Efforts like the Senate bipartisan bill that was just introduced yesterday must also be considered and be voted on. While I am still reading through the details of the 370-page bill, I am encouraged by the very summary that I have seen. While the path forward on immigration reform will likely not be straightforward, this much is true: We must reach a compromise with real solutions to this complex conversation and issue right now.

Again, I am calling on Speaker Johnson to change his deeply cynical position that ``now is not the time'' for immigration reform. I couldn't disagree more. Most people in most communities across America couldn't disagree more.

No solution will be perfect, but we cannot let that keep us from making progress for both the American people and for those who seek refuge here.

Not too long ago it was, indeed, my own family seeking shelter. My father and my grandmother survived the Holocaust. They left war-torn Poland after World War II and sought a better way of life here in the United States. I saw my young dad and grandmother in the eyes of frightened, desperate, and hopeful migrants that I was able to meet last week.

One small family unit in particular struck me. He was a young man of probably no more than 20 years old with his beautiful, curly-headed toddler, who reminded me of my youngest child. He told me about traffickers taking pictures of his son to intimidate and extort the father into conformance with their threats and demands. We can do better.

A lot has changed since my own father and grandmother took a ship across the Atlantic Ocean to New York City, and our immigration laws must also change as well.

I honor the souls, both migrant and American, whose lives collide with each other every day at our borders, and I again urge Republican leadership to bring a bipartisan border bill to the House floor. We must seek the hope of fresh opportunities. The shadows that burden us must all be lifted. That is possible, but only if we here in Congress understand that this Nation depends on us to act and to act now.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to support the bipartisan immigration reform.

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