Tony Cárdenas

Mr. CARDENAS

Mr. CARDENAS. Thank you very much. Next I would like to yield to Congresswoman Lois Capps. Congresswoman, both of us are from California, and we've seen the incredible impact that immigrants have made in our great State of California. Recognizing those contributions is not a partisan matter for us in California now, is it? One thing that I'd like for you to share with us, please, is your perspective on whether or not this is a partisan issue.

Mr. CARDENAS. Thank you very much, Congresswoman Capps. I now yield to Dr. Raul Ruiz, who represents the southern part of California, to express some of his understanding of why comprehensive immigration reform is good for America and good for Americans.

Mr. CARDENAS. Thank you so much, Congressman Ruiz. Before I call up our next Congressman from Florida, I'd like to share a story with everyone, Mr. Speaker, about economics and innovation. Cesar Millan was born in 1969 in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico. He grew up working with animals on his grandfather's farm in Sinaloa. Young Millan crossed the border in the U.S. without a visa at the age of 21. He spoke no English and did not know anyone in this country. He first worked in a dog grooming store working with the most aggressive dogs that nobody else would want to work with. Mr. Millan became a permanent resident in the year 2000. He was focused on rehabilitating especially aggressive dogs and founded the Dog Psychology Center in south Los Angeles, and he held that center there from 2002 to 2009, which, in fact, was a business. He started a television series, ``The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan,'' which was broadcast in more than 80 countries around the world between 2004 and 2012. The show became National Geographic's number one show during its first season. Starting in January 2013, Cesar Millan has hosted another series, ``Cesar Millan's Leader of the Pack.'' Cesar Millan has written three books, all of which became New York Times bestsellers. In 2009, Cesar Millan launched ``Cesar's Way'' magazine in the United States and Canada, which combines advice from Cesar and articles about relationships between dogs and humans. It is the number one selling dog magazine in North America. In 2007, Cesar and Ilusion Millan created the Cesar and Ilusion Millan Foundation, a not-for-profit to aid and support the rescue, rehabilitation, and placement of abused and abandoned dogs. Cesar Millan has also supported other projects, including K-9 Connection for at-risk teens, Pups on Parole for inmates, and It Gets Better that supports at-risk LGBT youth as well. I was present in 2009--and it was a proud moment for me and a proud moment for Cesar Millan and his family--when he raised his hand and was sworn in as a United States citizen in 2009 in Los Angeles, California. And I can tell you, his efforts and his contributions to this great Nation go much further. While watching television, my wife, Norma, looked at the TV and she said, You know what, Tony? You need to meet Cesar Millan. He looks like a good man, and he looks like somebody who can help you create good legislation for the city of Los Angeles, when I was on the city council of Los Angeles. So I invited him to my office, and immediately he said he'd be more than happy to help me. And as a result of that one meeting, he helped me create the first spay and neuter program in the largest city in the United States of America. Now it's the model for cities around the country. And it was his advice and his expertise that allowed me to do that. Los Angeles, for over 20 years, had not prosecuted one person for cruelty to animals, and it was Cesar Millan who urged me that we need to put an end to that. And with that, in Los Angeles, I was able to pass an ordinance that created an animal cruelty task force. And today, we have prosecuted over 200 individuals with felony charges for cruelty to animals. Basically what I'm saying is it was an undocumented immigrant who came to this country who taught me, an American-born citizen, how I can take my craft as an elected official to a level that had never been done before. And it's that kind of example that I believe we have example after example after example in this country that immigrants who come to this country, documented or undocumented, seize the opportunity of the atmosphere that we've created in this great country. And they are tremendous contributors not only to our economy, but to good legislation and making our communities a better place. And now I would like to invite to speak a few words Congressman Joe Garcia from Florida to share what his perspective on comprehensive immigration reform means to this country and why it's so important to our great Nation.

Mr. CARDENAS. Thank you, Congressman Garcia. I really appreciate that perspective and your sharing with America those perspectives. I would like to share another story of someone that I'm friends with and someone who has a business in my district and also lives in my district. Alonso Arellano was born in 1966 in Tijuana, Mexico. He came to America when he was 10 years old with his mother and stepdad and brother. His family settled in Huntington Park, California, where his father worked at a factory job and his mother sold goods to make some extra money. He had to withdraw from high school in the 10th grade because of the family's economic hardships and began working to help support his family. But he had a passion for learning and was determined to get an education, so he completed high school by taking night classes while working full-time, and went on to take courses at a junior college to continue his education. In 1986, he got married. And when he found out his wife was pregnant a couple of years later, he began to reevaluate his life and what he was going to do next for his family. So he joined the United States Air Force in 1988, where he won the Airman of the Quarter Award three times, received a commendation medal, and graduated from training with honors. He was granted the permission to take classes at Eastern New Mexico University nearby the base where he was stationed, and he eventually earned a bachelor's degree in physics and a master's degree in mathematics. After the war, Alonso applied for and was granted U.S. citizenship, which opened the door for his future career. When he left the military in 1994, he began training at UCLA to become a radiation medical physicist while working part time at UCLA at a cancer research center. He currently works as a radiation medical physicist at a private hospital. In addition to that, he owns and runs a restaurant called Rocio's Mole de los Dioses. And right now, he's planning on opening up another business, creating jobs for Americans, creating jobs in our community, our corner of America. I think it's important for people to understand that immigrants have such an insatiable appetite to appreciate their surroundings, appreciate their opportunities, just like Alonso, who had to get out of school at the 10th grade, who worked full-time, went to night school to get his education, went on to get a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, and now is contributing in a health care facility for patients with cancer, who is actually contributing by opening several businesses where he employs American citizens. I want to thank my colleagues for joining me tonight on this floor to share the stories of truth and the stories about how important comprehensive immigration reform is to the economy of America. Once again, 82,000 more jobs if we allow these new Americans to become citizens, $568 billion more growth in GDP to the United States economy if we allow them to become citizens, $75 billion more in revenue to local States and governments if we allow them to become citizens, $321 billion of growth in dollars in the pockets of American families that will be spent throughout our communities in America. As I close, I would like to thank NALEO, NCLR, and countless other businesses, chambers, labor, civil rights, religious, and law enforcement organizations, individuals who are continuing to push for the truth, to push Congress to please have comprehensive immigration reform meet the floor of both Houses so we can reconcile this, fix our broken immigration system, and put it on the desk of the President of the United States, and we will see an economic boon that this country has not seen for decades. Americans deserve for us to operate in these Chambers the way we should, to put aside the partisan bickering, to look at the economic benefit of every community in our country, to do the right thing, to live the spirit of what the United States of America portends to be around the world. We need to start at home and realize that we have 11 million hardworking people in this country who are doing the toughest jobs, changing the diapers of our children, working in the kitchens of every nice, wonderful restaurant in America, people who are working with our grandparents to help them live a better life. Many of those individuals deserve the opportunity to come out of the shadows, and not only come out of the shadows, but to contribute to this great Nation with more economics that we need to see. We have an ailing economy, ladies and gentlemen. And with that, Mr. Speaker, we will see growth in America. We will see more Americans go to work if we do the right thing and pass comprehensive immigration reform. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's been a wonderful hour of truth and message to the American people, and I hope and pray that in these Chambers we have the opportunity to vote for comprehensive immigration reform. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CARDENAS

Mr. CARDENAS. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of Congressman Pocan's amendment, which increases the Navy Research, Testing, Development, and Evaluation account by $10 million. This would support research, improving the safety of advanced batteries, specifically lithium-ion batteries. This amendment does not add new funding to the bill. Lithium-ion is the present and future of our energy storage technology. This technology is critical to U.S. military personnel for communications, navigation, and vehicles on land and in the sea, air, and space. It is also important to many other sectors of the economy, including to the utility companies, transportation, aviation, aerospace, and medical devices. As we have seen with recent airliner incidents, we can do more to address the safety of these batteries. Without improving that safety, we cannot fully realize the potential of lithium-ion technology. Without realizing that potential, we cannot improve our production capability here in the United States of America. The global market for lithium batteries was worth more than $11 billion in 2012, and it is expected to double to $22 billion by 2016. Right now, the U.S. has a very small market share of the lithium-ion industry. The bulk of the industry is in Japan, China, and Korea. Investments like this are critical to growing the U.S. industrial base and in creating middle class manufacturing jobs. Funding research and development for this cutting-edge technology can ensure that the lithium-ion industry grows right here in America. With that growth comes more government and commercial applications. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. As an electrical engineer myself, I am very, very proud of the innovation of the United States of America, but little by little, we see that slipping away to other countries. Yet, at the same time, if we just invest a little, this $10 million will yield billions of dollars in the future.

Mr. CARDENAS

Mr. CARDENAS. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. CARDENAS. Mr. Chairman, my amendment increases authorized funding for English language learners from $750 million to $775 million until 2019. Services to this growing, but completely underserved, population are important to me and families throughout my district and throughout this country; but it should be important for all of us. Latinos as a percent of the labor force will grow to 34 percent in the next 10 years. I want to share some numbers showing our neglect of these students. Only 7 percent of the English language learners in the fourth grade and 3 percent of those in the eighth grade were at or above a proficient level of English in 2011; non-English language learners saw five times as many fourth graders and 11 times as many eighth graders at or above proficient levels in English. All students should be able to reach those levels and greater. Mr. Chairman, English language learners are the fastest growing segment of the public school population. The overwhelming majority are native-born U.S. citizens. Half are second- or third-generation Americans. Adequate educational services could prevent 25 percent of English language learners from dropping out, ensuring a fair shot at their participation in this economy of ours. Instead, our system has failed these students. Second- and third- generation American citizens in our public schools are not proficient in English. This is absolutely unacceptable. My amendment provides a funding stream specifically for services for English language learners, but the provisions in H.R. 5 do not ensure that these funds will be used to support these children. H.R. 5 does not do what needs to be done to provide for these students. It strips the English language learner title and allows funds to be shared, allowing funds to be redirected from their intended population. Already, too many schools incorrectly use these funds. Opening the door to redirecting funds makes the problem even worse. H.R. 5 strips achievement metrics for English language acquisition. If we can't measure whether something works or not, what is the point of funding it, ladies and gentlemen? Given our poor record of educating Americans, why is the Federal Government retreating from having these outcomes measured? These children can be doctors, lawyers, business owners, educators, and community leaders if we provide them with the proper education when they're youngsters. We must allow them to realize their potential by investing in them. That is why next week I'll be introducing my own bill on educating English language learners. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle give much lip service to integrating Latino and immigrant families into American society; however, H.R. 5 would have been a great opportunity to show that they have meant what they said. At this time, I yield as much time as she may consume to my friend from Illinois, Congresswoman Duckworth.

Mr. CARDENAS. Mr. Chairman, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. CARDENAS. Mr. Chairman, my amendment, while ruled in order, does not go as far as we should. In fact, Mr. Miller's substitute provides even more of an opportunity for us to serve this important need. His bill would replace H.R. 5. Therefore, I ask my colleagues to support Mr. Miller's substitute language, vote against the current language. Mr. Chairman, I withdraw my amendment. Amendment No. 4 Offered by Mr. Luetkemeyer

Mr. CARDENAS

Mr. CARDENAS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to talk about comprehensive immigration reform, but from a slightly different standpoint from many of my colleagues who frequently occupy this Chamber with their perspectives. Madam Speaker, we all know why we need comprehensive immigration reform, why we need to fix this system rather than depending on small, one-off solutions. Our system is broken, and we have to fix the entire immigration system now. Our farms do not have stable workforces; our borders are not adequately protected; far too many high-tech companies are short the workers they need to continue to innovate; our schools attract the best and the brightest from around the world, but we can't keep sending them back after we educate them. We know what needs to be fixed and why. What will happen once we fix the problems? Very simply, our economy will skyrocket. Report after report, study after study says the same thing--the successful implementation of comprehensive immigration reform will cut the deficit, create manufacturing jobs and job opportunities nationwide, and create more than 100,000 American jobs every year for the next 10 years. We will see $832 billion being pumped into our economy over the next 10 years. As producers and consumers in this great Nation, undocumented immigrants grow the economic pie by at least $30 billion as we speak. Legalization would triple that number with various studies pointing to a $1 trillion impact on our gross domestic product right here in the United States over the next 10 years. Madam Speaker, I am joined by many of my freshman class. This past election, voters sent us to Washington to solve problems like our broken immigration system, and that's what we want to do. It's time to make immigration reform a reality, and it's absolutely time to let people know what that reality really means for their own pocketbooks-- those of both American citizens and immigrants. That's what we're going to talk about tonight. Madam Speaker, for those watching at home, they can get in on one of the conversations by tweeting us at #CIRmeansjobs. If our constituents have questions, we will answer them. With that, I look forward to an interesting and enlightening discussion tonight. I would like to start off by talking with my colleague from California, Congressman Swalwell. One thing I would like to ask this gentleman is whether he thinks comprehensive immigration reform will help not only create more job opportunities but also expand our Nation's workforce.

Mr. CARDENAS. Thank you very much, Congressman Swalwell. Next, we will hear from Congressman Ruiz from California.

Mr. CARDENAS. Thank you very much, Congressman Ruiz from California. One of the things I'd like to make sure that we understand is that some people believe that the low-skilled jobs that some immigrants take in this country are jobs that are taken away from Americans. Ask any farmer around the country, especially the members of the biggest farms in the country. Some crops have gone unpicked, which means that that affects the pocketbooks of every American when those crops don't make it to our kitchen tables. It's really important for us to understand that many of the jobs that are taken by some immigrants to this country are jobs that U.S. workers just will not take. I think it's very important for us to understand that, and there is a diversity of jobs that we will cover over the next hour. With that, I yield to Congressman Gallego from Texas.

Mr. CARDENAS. Thank you very much, Congressman Gallego. It's very important for us to understand that this is an issue of diversity. And it's not just diversity of people from all over the country, but diversity of economics for the United States of America. It's no secret that we are the innovative capital of the world, but more and more every single day, every single year, we are depending more and more and more on technical people coming to our country to fill those technical jobs that are fueling hundreds, if not millions, of jobs in this country and creating tremendous economic benefit for our country. It's really important for us to understand that. I now yield to Congresswoman Titus from Nevada to speak to those issues and others.

Mr. CARDENAS. Thank you very much, Congresswoman Titus. It's really important for us to understand and recognize the diversity of people who are speaking on this issue today, but the one common theme is the fact that economically this is the right thing to do. There are many other reasons why we need to fix our broken immigration system, but the number one benefit to every American citizen in this country is going to be economic growth for every corner of our country. With that, I invite to the podium Congresswoman Sinema from Arizona.

Mr. CARDENAS. Thank you, Congresswoman Sinema. It's really important for us to also recognize that there are many industries that you might not think of that have to do with benefiting the economy as a whole for your community. If you have any activity of tourism in your community, you need to understand that comprehensive immigration reform is going to benefit you, as well. With that, I invite Congresswoman Gabbard to take the floor.

Mr. CARDENAS. Thank you very much, Congresswoman Gabbard. Some people say that comprehensive immigration reform needs to happen because it is the socially responsible thing to do. But one thing that our numbers show, and whether it is a conservative group or the Congressional Budget Office staff, they basically are saying when we pass comprehensive immigration reform, we are going to see places like Social Security go up in value and actually extend the life of Social Security with those additional payers. It is important for us to understand that yes, it is a social responsibility for us to improve our immigration system, yet at the same time, once again, every American will benefit. I yield to Congressman Cartwright from Pennsylvania.

Mr. CARDENAS. Thank you very much, Congressman Cartwright. I think it is very important for us to understand once again that tonight we are covering many aspects of why comprehensive immigration reform is good for this country. It's really important for us to understand, and what I urge every viewer to do is to ask your local Chamber of Commerce how they feel about whether comprehensive immigration reform is overdue and whether or not we should pass such a bill. Also ask your local law enforcement agencies. For example, 37 out of the 50 State attorneys general in this country have all signed a letter saying Congress, please pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill. And please ask anybody from whatever religion you may be a part of, ask that pastor, ask that individual that you look to for that spiritual guidance to answer the question as to whether or not comprehensive immigration reform is something they believe should happen in this country. I think the answers will overwhelmingly be yes, yes, yes. Now I yield to Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham from New Mexico to speak.

Mr. CARDENAS. I thank the congresswoman. Next, I'd like to yield to Congressman Murphy from Florida. We've heard from a congresswoman from Hawaii, and next Congressman Murphy from Florida will speak. Tourism is an important economic issue tip to tip in this country, and Florida is no exception.

Mr. CARDENAS. I thank Congressman Murphy. I think it is important for us to understand that every State has its unique differences, yet again, we are one Nation and we will all benefit from comprehensive immigration reform. I would now like to yield to Congressman Veasey from Texas.

Mr. CARDENAS. Thank you very much, Congressman Veasey. It's really important for us to understand, I keep saying, every corner of this country's going to benefit from comprehensive immigration reform. And you just heard from one of our Representatives from Texas explaining that there's actually Republicans in his State who actually realize the economic benefit and are urging comprehensive immigration reform now as well. Before I go to the next speaker, I must ask, Madam Speaker, how much time do we still have?

Mr. CARDENAS. I yield time to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Garcia).

Mr. CARDENAS. Thank you very much, Congressman Garcia. Next I'll yield time to the gentleman from California (Mr. Vargas).

Mr. CARDENAS. Thank you very much, Congressman Vargas. I'll yield time to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Castro). And I'd like to ask Congressman Castro if he can help me answer the question a young lady tweeted on this, as we're commenting tonight from the floor. Brenda asked, What are you doing for children who came here through no fault of their own? Congressman Castro.

Mr. CARDENAS. Thank you very much, Congressman Castro. I'd like to thank all of my colleagues who spoke here tonight. And thank you, Madam Speaker, for affording us the opportunity to speak to the American public and to actually explain this very, very critical, important economic benefit to our great country. I'd like to thank my colleagues, my fellow Americans, for speaking out tonight and explaining to every American of our great country that comprehensive immigration reform benefits you. Every single person born in this country will benefit tremendously from passage of comprehensive immigration reform. I think it's important for us to understand that, to many of us American-born citizens, this is a very important issue. It's about economics, but it's also an emotional issue as well. I'm very, very proud to say that I was born in this country, and I thank my parents for coming to California and for raising me in California as an American citizen, even though they were raised in Mexico. I think it's important for us to understand that I'm proud of growing up in a family where my father owned a business, and he taught me and explained to me, with his first-grade education in Mexico, he told me time and time again, as well as telling my 10 brothers and sisters, you have an opportunity for an education. You need to take advantage of that opportunity, and we did. I'm very proud to say that my mother had a second-grade education, my father had a first-grade education, but their children now have doctorate degrees, master's degrees, bachelor's degrees, engineers, teachers, psychologists, all raised in one humble home in Pacoima. That is the American experience, ladies and gentlemen. And one thing that I'm very proud to say as well about our 10 families, now that we're raising our own American families, every single one of our households pays more annually in taxes than my mother and father's home ever made in one given year. I'll say that again. From a humble home where a man and a woman together raised their children, their entire annual income did not equal the amount of taxes that each one of their sons and daughters now pay today. To me, that's the exclamation point on everything we've talked about tonight. We've talked about how important it is to the Social Security system. It will boost that. We talked about how it is to the deficit that we hear about on this floor so many times. It will actually erase $850 billion from our U.S. deficit. There are so many benefits that will benefit not only our coffers here in Washington, which benefits America, but will actually benefit hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of American-born citizens that will work in those industries that are created and spearheaded by immigrants to this country. And I must say this. I would like to read a few of the names of immigrants born outside of this country who created businesses in this country that many of us use everyday and recognize: Sergey Brin from Russia, cofounder of Google; Pierre Omidyar, an Iranian immigrant from France, one of the cofounders of eBay, Inc.; Jerry Yang from Taiwan, cofounder of Yahoo; James L. Kraft, a Canadian, cofounder of Kraft Foods, Inc.; Levi Strauss, a man from Germany, founder of Levi-Strauss in California; Liz Claiborne from Belgium, founder of Liz Claiborne, Inc. If you think clothes don't mean much, that's a United States company worth $5 billion; Andrew Grove from Hungary, cofounder of Intel, a company worth $112 billion; Kevork S. Hovnanian from Iraq, founder of Hovnanian Enterprises, a homebuilder that in 2011 had revenues of $1.1 billion. And the list goes on and on and and on. Every single one of those individuals made their second life here in our great country. And it's because there was a time that in this country we embraced everyone from around the world. And all we asked of them is that they just obey the laws once they are here and that they do well with the opportunities that our great country affords every human being when they are here. We have one of the highest standards of living in the world. And there's a reason for that. Because there was a time for many, many years that we welcomed people to our shores. At this time where we just reopened the Statute of Liberty, it's time for us to embrace people from around the world and for us to recognize it's not just about doing the right thing for them. It is the right thing for every American citizen born in this country. The benefits economically are tremendous. There are no losers, ladies and gentlemen, when it comes to the United States Congress doing the right thing. Let's put a comprehensive immigration bill through our process and on the desk of this President and let's watch this country thrive. Our great country deserves it. Once again, I would like to thank everybody who participated, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CARDENAS

Mr. CARDENAS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 1911, Smarter Solutions for Students Act. This is a truly devastating bill for every working and middle class family trying to achieve the American Dream. If we do nothing before July 1st, we will be passively negligent. If we pass this will today, we will be actively destroying our competitiveness and economic strength by taking dollars out of the pockets of our workforce. The bill is as far away from ``commonsense legislation'' as we get. It makes the situation worse by making college education far more expensive! According a Congressional Research Service report, under this proposal, a student borrowing the maximum loan amounts with a 5 year subsidized loan will pay more than $10,000. Even under the doubled rate of July 1, a student with the same loan would pay less than $9,000. Under the current rate of 3.4 percent, this student pays just over $4,000. Those massive differences in repayment rates show that this bill was not written with students in mind. The growing student loan-burden in our country is critical and must be addressed. According to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, student loan debt recently surpassed the $1 trillion mark. The 2010 Survey of Consumer Finances reported that 45 percent of all American families hold outstanding student-loan debt. This was an increase from 33 percent in 2007. While the majority of student debt is held by people under the age of 35, increasing student debt affects every member of the family, especially in a time when nearly half of bachelor's degree holders under the age of 25 are unemployed. However, addressing increased interest costs is only part of the solution. We need to begin to address the exorbitant prices of higher education. I understand that universities are trying to cope with the decreases in government funding and declining contributions as a result of the tough economic times. However, these institutions also have a role to play in ensuring that education is accessible and affordable to all students. If these institutions would like the government to continue to invest in students, they should do so as well, by doing everything in their power to keep tuition costs low. I cannot stress enough the importance of making college education accessible. We all agree that education transforms people's lives. Education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty, crime, and violence in any community. It is the engine that will propel our families into the middle class and allow us to reinvigorate and grow our economy. We must act swiftly to remedy this unsustainable situation.