Fattah Statement on President Obama's Executive Action on Immigration

Statement

Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA), a senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, released a statement on President Obama's speech tonight announcing new executive action on immigration reform:

"Last week, I joined with many of my Democratic colleagues to call on the President to take action on immigration. Today, I commend his bold leadership that has implications for millions of families living in the United States.

"In tonight's speech, President Obama laid out a clear set of actions that will make great strides towards fixing our nation's broken immigration system. I wholeheartedly support the President's use of his executive powers to move our country forward on this issue that has long been at a standstill in Congress.

"Nearly 18 months ago the Senate voted in a bipartisan fashion in favor of comprehensive immigration reform. I support this piece of legislation, and have consistently pushed for the House of Representatives to bring it to the floor for a vote. The refusal to allow a House vote on this issue is unacceptable.

"The House can still bring the Senate's immigration bill to a vote, and I strongly urge them to do so before we adjourn for the year. Comprehensive immigration reform is too important--to our economy and to the security of the country--for us not to act."

Source