Schneider: Senate Must Include Immigration, Despite Ruling of Parliamentarian; Businesses, Communities Are Counting On It

WASHINGTON — Today, Congressman Brad Schneider (IL-10) called for immigration action during a press call with the American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC). In response to news that the Senate parliamentarian has once again rejected immigration provisions that would provide a five year work authorization for immigrants, Schneider asked that the Senate get things done on immigration by making their own determination of their body's rules.

Video of the press conference can be found here.

Schneider's remarks as prepared for delivery are available below:

Last night, I was profoundly disappointed learning the news that – for arcane reasons that Americans really don't understand – the parliamentarian thinks that provisions of the Build Back Better Act to provide a five year renewable work authorization for immigrants runs afoul of Senate rules.

In a government by and for the People, for our Senate to run like this is unacceptable. It's this it's a sign that the Senate is fundamentally broken and increasingly undemocratic. If we want to succeed in the 21st century, if we want to compete in the 21st century, we have to get things done. But because Congress has been unable to address immigration now for more than a generation, our nation is failing to live up to its full potential. We have to provide some level of immigration reform. Our businesses are counting on it, and our communities are depending on it, and the Senate quite simply isn't delivering.

But before I move on, I want to emphasize a key point: as Rebecca noted in her opening remarks, immigration reform is bipartisan. It's bipartisan in my community. It's bipartisan, as was mentioned with the Problem Solvers Caucus. And if Republicans in the Senate were truly interested in solving America's problems, the actions of the parliamentarian last night wouldn't be an issue. We wouldn't have to ask for extraordinary action. Unfortunately, however, we have seen, Senate Republicans develop an increasingly extreme position on this issue. Their representation in the Senate is so disconnected from the mainstream that their functional veto of this policy is truly and fundamentally undemocratic.

The urgency of the problem is all around us. This week, I traveled across my district. In every gathering I attend, I hear the same two things: ‘we have challenges with the supply chain, and we desperately need employees. We have a hard time hiring people.'

In fact, just yesterday, I visited a rehabilitation and long term care facility. They care for seniors in need, whether it's long term or after surgery, and they're looking for nurses, therapists, other critical health care workers, to literally help patients get back on their feet and fully recover. Despite raising their pay, offering to provide education stipends, they simply can't find enough people to care for their patients. They can't put enough caretakers in the rooms taking care of the beds, providing the therapy and in their occupational therapy rooms. They know that simple solutions on immigration policy would help their business and would help our seniors.

Build Back Better is far from the ideal version of comprehensive immigration reform that we need. But at the very least, it begins to address the challenges we face.

America can't afford to leave our businesses hanging. America can't afford to leave our immigrant community hanging. We need results. We need the Senate to take positive steps. And that's why I hope my colleagues in the Senate will make their own determination on their body's rules and include immigration reform in the Build Back Better Act.

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