As the Senate nears a vote on the Gang of 8 immigration reform proposal, I delivered a speech to explain the many problems with the bill. Here are the main points I made during this speech as I shared them on Twitter. Help me out by retweeting your favorites.
The #Go8 bill we have before us today is an enormous disappointment. The American people deserve better: http://t.co/mLTfzGCHwz
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 27, 2013
As a matter of public policy, #Go8 fails to meet many of the goals that we set to meet at the beginning of the process.
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 27, 2013
#Go8 bill is full of promises to beef up border security, but it makes no assurances. http://t.co/LRAJAOWJP5
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 27, 2013
The #Go8 bill cuts the American people out by cutting out congressional oversight of pathway to citizenship process: http://t.co/crWlm7SzM7
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 27, 2013
The #Go8 bill remains grossly unfair to those who have languished in our current legal immigration system for decades.
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 27, 2013
The #Go8 bill transfers too much authority & discretion to the executive branch, exacerbating an already widespread problem in federal gov.
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 27, 2013
According to CBO, #Go8 will reduce illegal immigration by just a mere 25% over the next ten years: reason alone to scrap entire bill.
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 27, 2013
As a matter of process, senators should be embarrassed about how #Go8 bill has moved through the senate. http://t.co/ADQzNcmdHx
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 27, 2013
From day one, the country was misled about what was in #Go8 bill. The talking points never matched bill’s reality: http://t.co/8uM7N7bSFY
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 27, 2013
We were told that if we didn’t like what was in #Go8 that we’d have an opportunity to fix it. But that wasn’t true either.
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 27, 2013
During committee markup Democrats & #Go8 Republicans voted as a block to defeat virtually all substantive amendments to improve the bill.
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 27, 2013
They said there would be regular order for #Go8 on the floor of the senate, but that turned out to be a false promise as well.
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 27, 2013
For grand finale, the #Go8 proponents substituted what is effectively a brand-new bill instead of the one we’ve been debating for 2 months.
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 27, 2013
The #Go8 process has revealed all the problems inherent in passing massive pieces of legislation that try to fix all of problems at once.
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 27, 2013
The so-called comprehensive approach has been utterly discredited. #Go8 bill reaffirms why vast majority of Americans distrust Washington.
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 27, 2013
The special interests had a huge hand in writing the #Go8 bill while the American people had no role: http://t.co/1XCVo3oPh5
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 27, 2013
The House appears to have learned from #Go8 dysfunction and wants no part of this. They are passing step-by-step reforms.
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 27, 2013
There’s simply no legitimate reason why we have to pass a one-size-fits-all 1,200-page, take-it-or-leave-it #immigration bill.
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 27, 2013
I support immigration reform. But #Go8 is not immigration reform. It is big government dysfunction. I am voting no: http://t.co/0Rx1s0lT78
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 27, 2013