News Releases

Sen. Moran Votes "No" on Passage of Gang of Eight Bill

"Like Kansans, I am skeptical this 1,200-page bill will create an immigration system that is fair, efficient, meets the needs of the American economy, and discourages future illegal activity."

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) released the following statement on his vote against final passage of S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act:

"Our immigration system has long been broken and our borders are not secure. I had hoped Congress would solve the critical issues before us for national security, economic and humanitarian reasons. Like Kansans, I am skeptical this 1,200-page bill will create an immigration system that is fair, efficient, meets the needs of the American economy, and discourages future illegal activity.

"Rather than focusing on tackling the problem in manageable increments and delivering the reforms Americans are asking for, the Senate chose to lump every immigration and border security problem together into one massive and flawed bill. Americans are keenly aware of where this irresponsible method of legislating has gotten us in the past – but the Senate has clearly learned nothing from the failure of the 1986 immigration reform bill, and more recently the rushed passage of Dodd-Frank and Obamacare.

"My Senate colleagues and I were poised to solve the problems in this bill during the amendment process, but the open debate Americans were promised was replaced by backroom talks, limited amendments and excessive haste. In total, more than 530 amendments were offered but votes were blocked on all but ten of those amendments. On an issue of such significance, the American people deserved to have their voices heard through an open process that allowed their elected representatives to debate and vote on amendments.

"Americans want Congress to fix our flawed immigration system the right way – and fix it for good. Unfortunately, this bill that the Congressional Budget Office estimates would only reduce the number of illegal immigrants by 25 percent does not meet that standard. This bill fails to fix our broken immigration system."

 

# # #

To subscribe to Sen. Moran’s newsletter, visit his website at https://www.moran.senate.gov.