Jared Polis

Mr. POLIS

Mr. POLIS. Madam Speaker, is it correct that Representative Caardenas' amendment, which made the necessary changes in the budget to accommodate passage of H.R. 15, the bipartisan Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, which lowers our deficits and secures our borders and establishes clear and just rules for citizenship, was not made in order under H. Res. 554?

Mr. POLIS. Madam Speaker, point of parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. POLIS. Does clause 3(b) of rule XIII, which requires committee reports to include--for record votes--the total number of votes cast for and against an amendment, as well as the names of Members voting for and against an amendment, apply to the Rules Committee?

Mr. POLIS. Madam Speaker, parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. POLIS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to permit Representative Caardenas to offer an amendment.

Mr. POLIS. Would a point of order lie against H. Res. 544 if the accompanying report, House Report 113-405 of the Rules Committee, did not include a record of the votes cast for and against an amendment, as well as the names of Members voting for and against an amendment, knowing that transparency is so fundamental to the rules of the House and the democratic process?

Mr. POLIS. Madam Speaker, parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. POLIS. Is it in order to offer an amendment to the rule?

Mr. POLIS. Madam Speaker, point of parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. POLIS. Madam Speaker, is it a constitutional right of the House to change the rules for consideration of a budget resolution as they are otherwise established in the Congressional Budget Act and were adopted in this Congress pursuant to H. Res. 5?

Mr. POLIS. Madam Speaker, parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. POLIS. Madam Speaker, parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. POLIS. Rule XIII, clause 6(c) states that it is not in order for the Committee on Rules to report a rule that would prevent the motion to recommit from being made as provided in clause 2(b) of rule XIX. Was it, therefore, in order under House rule XIII for the Committee on Rules to report H. Con. Res. 96?

Mr. POLIS. Madam Speaker, parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. POLIS

Mr. POLIS. The longer we delay in passing immigration reform, the greater costs of inaction. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office shows that H.R. 15 would reduce our deficit by $900 billion. Imagine including that, $200 billion in the first decade, in the baseline budget for the House of Representatives being worked on by Mr. Ryan and his associates on the Budget Committee. What could that $200 billion do? Could we reduce the marginal rate? Could we reduce tax rates for corporations that keep jobs here rather than outsource them overseas? Could we reduce our deficit with that $200 billion? Could we invest it in tomorrow's infrastructure to help America remain competitive? The answer is yes. $200 billion is generated from fixing our immigration system in a commonsense way that more than 80 percent of the American people support. Immigration reform means that housing units would be increasingly in demand and residential construction spending would increase by $68 billion per year over a 20-year period. Under immigration reform, over $100 billion more in additional taxes would be paid, allowing, again, tax reductions to others or investments in education and infrastructure, including revenues to State and local government. I hope the majority is listening to former Speaker Hastert who said in an op-ed recently: Immigration reform will make us safer, and it will make us economically stronger. It is politically smart and morally right. And when we look at ourselves at the end of the day, Mr. Speaker, we do need to stand for what in our own faith traditions and in our own conscience is morally right. And I know, Mr. Speaker, that what is morally right is an immigration system that reflects our values as Americans, one that honors our ancestors, one that honors my great- grandparents who came to this country from foreign shores at a young age and had their families here and allowed their great-grandson to serve here in the United States Congress. Today's immigrants are no different from my great-grandmother who came in 1905 to this country from Eastern Europe. If only we will provide them the opportunity and a pathway for them to be and become the good Americans that they already are and contribute to make our country stronger, we will be strengthened as a nation; jobs will be created for Americans; we will prevent foreign workers from undermining wages for American workers; we will secure our borders to prevent people from sneaking across and working in this country illegally; and we will require that companies authenticate the legal status of all workers. Mr. Speaker, I hope that my plea has not fallen upon deaf ears. I ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 15 to demand a vote on the bipartisan immigration reform bill that unites our families.

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, every day we fail to act, the economic and human toll increases. Every day we fail to act, we sacrifice significant levels of investment in our country as well as lose out on talented and entrepreneurial potential Americans to overseas corporations. I represent a district that contains the Colorado State University and the University of Colorado at Boulder. Like a lot of great schools across our country, many of our graduate students in computer science and engineering are from other countries. They are here on student visas. And when they receive their master's or their Ph.D., rather than allow them to stay here, work here, and make our country stronger, we force many of them to return overseas where the jobs follow them to make another country stronger. In some cases, countries that have differences of opinion with us on a geopolitical landscape, like Russia and China, allow these students to make their countries stronger rather than ours. Our economy, our faith leaders, our businesses, our workforce, and our families are all crying out for the House to debate this bill and to demand a vote now. I urge House leadership to heed their calls and put H.R. 15 on the floor for an immediate vote. It will pass; it has the votes. It will become the law, and it will solve this issue. The time is now. Our country and our families demand a vote. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. POLIS. Reclaiming my time, Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Utah is immersed in the arcane aspects of antiquities law. I certainly understand his passion for that. I truly do. The gentleman from Utah and I have had a many great discussions on managing our public lands, which is a big part of his district and is certainly a big part of the district that I represent, but the true antiquity in the room is our broken immigration system. The gentleman from Utah has the ability to allow us, through unanimous consent, to bring H.R. 15, comprehensive immigration reform, to the floor of the House to solve this issue. Every Member of this body, Democratic and Republican, has the ability to sign a discharge petition. Once it reaches 218 signatures, no Member--not the Speaker and not the majority leader--can prevent that bill from being voted on in a straight up-or-down vote. It is time to simply demand a debate, demand a vote on comprehensive immigration reform. Today, Mr. Speaker, we have a chance to act on legislation that has already passed the Senate with more than a two-thirds majority, including support from the home State of the gentleman from Utah, the senior Senator. We passed a bill that the President would sign. We have a chance to pass bipartisan legislation that reduces our deficit, that secures our borders, that requires workplace authentication. I am proud to say, Mr. Speaker, that just this morning, Congressman Garcia filed a discharge petition on H.R. 15, finally allowing the membership of this body to go around a Speaker or a majority leader that is unwilling to address the issue of immigration, to bring forward our solution, our bipartisan solution, H.R. 15. Now, again, I and many Members of this body are happy to consider other proposals. The gentleman from Utah has mentioned that he has a proposal. My colleagues on both sides of the aisle have a number of proposals. Some have even passed through the Judiciary Committee, but not one immigration bill has been debated or voted on in the entire year and a half of this legislative session. Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield to the gentlelady from California (Mrs. Napolitano), a leader in the fight for immigration reform, for the purpose of a unanimous consent request.

Mr. POLIS. Well, Mr. Speaker, I think reducing our deficit by $900 billion is a good idea. I really do. I think the American people agree that reducing our deficit by $900 billion is a good idea; and if all that stands in the way of us reducing our deficit by $900 billion is allowing this request to move through, I would certainly urge my friend from Utah to reconsider. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, the majority of the American people, regardless of where they stand in the ideological spectrum or their party--Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Greens, Libertarians--all agree that the time is now to pass immigration reform. A recent CNN poll showed 81 percent support for immigration reform. Another poll showed that 72 percent of Republicans support the package of reforms that are included in the Senate bipartisan package and the House bipartisan package. So what are we debating here, Mr. Speaker? Are we simply refusing to discuss any solutions? Mr. Speaker, we have offered unanimous consent request after unanimous consent request, which the gentleman from Utah has not agreed to one of those; and, Mr. Speaker, on others, you have read his mind and assumed that he hasn't agreed, although we haven't heard from him on each of those. We filed the discharge petition. I hope that that soon has 218 votes, but very soon, Mr. Speaker, there will actually be a vote right here in this body on the previous question; and if we defeat that motion on the previous question, we will bring forward H.R. 15, the bipartisan immigration reform bill. A similar version passed the Senate with more than two-thirds' support, and I am optimistic that that bill will pass the House today. Let's have some debate on immigration reform. Rather than working 9\1/2\ hours this week, the American people want to see a Congress that tackles problems and works towards solutions. They want to see a Congress that creates jobs for Americans, makes sure that we have workplace enforcement of our immigration laws, and secure borders. It doesn't happen by itself. Absent this body taking action, the hole in our border security will continue to be as wide as the Grand Canyon, as the gentleman from Utah has mentioned. The hole in our national spirit and our identity and our values will be just as wide if we continue to refuse to act to unite families and bring together Americans and to finally reflect our history as a nation of immigrants and as a nation of laws. It is not inconsistent to be a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws, but under the current chaos and disorder that is our immigration dysfunction, we appease no one. It is not good for our security when we don't know who is here. It is not good for American business when they don't know who is here legally and who is not, nor when companies that hire people under the table for cash are rewarded. It doesn't reflect our values, as a country, to tear an American child from their parent and, at taxpayer expense, sending a parent back to another country away from their child. It doesn't reflect our values to, at taxpayer expense, keep people detained for months or even years who have committed no criminal act in our country. These should all be addressed, Mr. Speaker, through a bill with broad bipartisan buy-in, with support from across the ideological spectrum that would pass tomorrow if we can simply defeat the previous question or if the gentleman from Utah will entertain one of my colleagues' unanimous consent requests or if 218 of us sign where I have signed on demand a vote, the discharge petition now at the desk on immigration reform. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to inquire of the gentleman from Utah how many more of my colleagues need to urgently request that this bill come forward before he would kindly consider our unanimous consent request to allow this bill to be debated on, even recognizing you may be opposed to it and others may support it, at least allowing us to have this debate? How many more Members need to come forward and request that for him, as a courtesy, to consider that? I am happy to yield for an answer.

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request so that this House can address replacing the real antiquity that is our broken immigration system.

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, with due respect, our desire that we are placing before you is to have a debate about immigration. Mr. Speaker, not 1 hour, not half an hour, not 10 minutes, not 1 minute of floor time for the last entire year and a half has been scheduled for debate on this important topic: replacing our immigration system with one that works. There is no desire to embellish or debate through motions. There is an earnest desire to debate the merits of the bill. We can accomplish that in three ways here, Mr. Speaker: We can defeat the previous question and bring up immigration reform; the continued enthusiasm from my colleagues can convince Mr. Bishop to allow for the unanimous consent request to bring up H.R. 15; or, third, my colleagues can sign the discharge petition now at the desk, and once that petition receives 218 votes, it will advance immediately to the floor. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Lujan Grisham) for a unanimous consent request.

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. We have an opportunity, Mr. Speaker, an opportunity in this body to address an issue that is in the hearts and in the minds of people across our country, of businesses across our country, of faith leaders across our country, and that is reconciling our immigration system with our values and with our economic needs, as a country. We can do it, Mr. Speaker. We can, with one bill, reduce our deficit by $900 billion. We can, Mr. Speaker, secure our borders and prevent people from entering this country illegally. We can, Mr. Speaker, ensure that every company verifies the people that work for it are legally here through a national database. We can, Mr. Speaker, create 151,000 jobs for Americans. We can, Mr. Speaker, grow our economy by an additional 4.8 percent over a 20-year period. We can, Mr. Speaker, unite an American child with their parents, so they can grow into the great Americans that they will become, if only we let them. There are millions of aspiring Americans throughout our country--in my district, in my State of Colorado, and across the country--people who want nothing more than to play by our rules, to speak our language, to pay taxes, and to spend money in our stores, generating jobs for our economy, if only we will let them. We need immigration reform, Mr. Speaker, which is why an unprecedented alliance has come together from across the spectrum in support of immigration reform. In the faith-based community, leaders in the evangelical movement, the Catholic Church, the Jewish faith, and many others have joined arm-in-arm saying: demand action, the time is now. The business community--from the tech community to the farmers to agriculture--are united around replacing our broken immigration system with one that works, so we have the pipeline of talent we need, so that America remains competitive and to prevent the offshoring of jobs overseas. Workers across the country are united, in organized labor, in saying: we want to replace our broken immigration system with one that works because, when we have a large illegal workforce in our country, it undermines wages for American workers. We need to prevent the undermining of wages for American workers by replacing our immigration system with one that works and one that requires workplace authentication of all people that are employed. At this time, I will move down to the well, where I have a sign that will be displayed with me, Mr. Speaker, and I would like to ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 15 and demand a vote on the bipartisan immigration reform bill that unites our families.

Mr. POLIS. I would like to ask the gentleman from Utah if he has changed his mind and will yield for that purpose?