David Jackson, USATODAY 7:20 a.m. EDT May 22, 2013
Now that an immigration bill has cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee, President Obama is urging lawmakers to pass a final product.
“None of the committee members got everything they wanted, and neither did I, but in the end, we all owe it to the American people to get the best possible result over the finish line,” Obama said after the vote on Tuesday.
The full Senate is expected to begin debating the immigration bill in early June.
The proposal passed by the Judiciary Committee would allow the nation’s 11 million unauthorized immigrants to apply for U.S. citizenship, while also providing significant new investments in border security.
(Photo: Jacquelyn Martin, AP)
Obama’s full statement on the immigration bill:
“I congratulate the Senate Judiciary Committee on completing its work on S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act.
“Thanks to the leadership of Chairman (Patrick) Leahy and a bipartisan group of eight Senators, the legislation that passed the Judiciary Committee with a strong bipartisan vote is largely consistent with the principles of commonsense reform I have proposed and meets the challenge of fixing our broken immigration system.
“The process for considering this legislation has been open and inclusive with multiple hearings, and more than a hundred amendments were considered and adopted, in many cases with bipartisan support.
“I applaud the Committee members for their hard work, especially “Gang of Eight” members Senators (Charles) Schumer, (Dick) Durbin, (Lindsey) Graham and (Jeff) Flake.
“None of the Committee members got everything they wanted, and neither did I , but in the end, we all owe it to the American people to get the best possible result over the finish line.
“I encourage the full Senate to bring this bipartisan bill to the floor at the at the earliest possible opportunity and remain hopeful that the amendment process will lead to further improvements.”