Durbin Statement on Committee Approval of Bipartisan Immigration Bill
Measure Now Heads to the Full Senate for Consideration; Action Expected Next Month
[WASHINGTON, DC] Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement today after the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act, sending the bipartisan measure the to the full Senate for consideration. Durbin was one of the bipartisan members of the so-called Gang of Eight that authored the measure.
“Over the years, we have made serious efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform, but we have never been able to succeed,” Durbin said. “I believe this time is different. The bipartisan bill the Judiciary Committee approved today is the product of months of negotiations and weeks of debate. No one got everything they wanted, but that’s the nature of a compromise.”
“In the end, this bill reforms a badly broken immigration system by strengthening border security, reforming our legal immigration system and creating a tough but fair path to citizenship. Today’s committee passage is an important step toward real and lasting reform.”
"To those who feel Congress is broken, the bipartisan majority in the Senate Judiciary Committee gives me hope that immigration reform is the indication of a new day.”
“I want to thank Judiciary Committee Chairman Leahy for his leadership in getting this bill through his committee and look forward to working with him and the other members of the committee as the bill comes to the Senate floor next month.”