Yesterday Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) committed to making the reform of our nation’s dysfunctional immigration system a top priority in Congress, after healthcare and energy. Matthew Yglesias writes in “Pelosi & Reid Commit to Immigration Reform:”
Nancy Pelosi “told the Asian American and Pacific Islander Summit this morning that Congress would tackle immigration reform after finishing with health care and energy.” CD opined that “it seems unlikely that Congress could work through all three mega-issues this year” but Pelosi didn’t say that. Harry Reid, meanwhile, explicitly said he thought immigration could be done this year:
“As far as I’m concerned, we have three major issues we have to do this year, if at all possible: No. 1 is healthcare; No 2 is energy, global warming; No. 3 is immigration reform,” Reid said. “It’s going to happen this session, but I want it this year, if at all possible.”
Well, today Cecilia Muñoz, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House, summed up a week’s worth of townhalls, testimonies, and strategy sessions with a simple but powerful message.
Watch part of her keynote address to the Reform Immigration for America Summit:
In text form:
For those of us who are serious about passing comprehensive immigration reform, the most important measure is whether we generate the support in Congress to move and pass a vehicle.
Nobody is doing this for show.
That’s not why you’re here. […] That’s not why the President has stated his committment to this issue over and over again. […]
We understand that. We know that you understand that. We know that’s why you’re here.
Judging by the standing ovation and the round after round of “Si Se Puede’s” echoing through the Summit arena after Muñoz’ speech, generating support in Congress to pass real immigration reform is exactly what those 800 reform advocates- and the hundreds of thousands of diverse constituents whom they represent back home- are fired up and ready to do.
