• Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.
  • Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.
  • Dean Heller, R-Nev.
  • John McCain, R-Ariz.
  • Lisa Murkowski R-Alaska
  • Rob Portman, R-Ohio

Why would these six just a year and a half later change their votes? Those changes had nothing to do with the substance of the bill. The only reason they voted against it in 2015 was that they knew if it passed President Obama would NEVER sign it into law. They voted for it simply to be able to tell voters when campaigning they voted against Obamacare. Further, they campaigned in 2016 pledging support of the same repeal bill from 2015. And then they all voted against it.

Congressional hypocrisy is front and center now in the Immigration debate. Remember the “Gang of Eight?” Those were 8 senators — 4 Democrats and 4 Republicans — who joined forces to create the “Dream Act” that in 2013 was supposed to be the plan to fix Immigration. Those Senators were:

  • Sen. Michael F. Bennet, D-CO
  • Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-IL
  • Sen. Jeff Flake, R-AZ
  • Sen. Lindsey O. Graham, R-SC
  • Sen. John McCain, R-AZ
  • Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ
  • Sen. Marco A. Rubio, R-FL
  • Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-NY

The bill passed in the Senate but failed miserably in the House. Why? It included an almost immediate path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. An overwhelming majority of Americans do not support such a path, yet 4 G.O.P. Senators not only supported that section of the bill, they led the push to influence other G.O.P. members to vote for it as well — that in spite of the fact that Americans overwhelmingly objected to it. Two of the Gang of Eight ran for the G.O.P. Presidential nomination in 2016 who both distanced themselves from their support of that portion of the Dream Act. Just politics as usual in D.C.

Summary

Plainly stating this puts it out front: Congress is failing Americans — every day. Immigration Reform is a fundamental process that should be treated very simply: pass a law to change existing immigration laws. If Congress cannot pass such a law, the legislative process has succeeded as it was designed by our forefathers. That is the way it is supposed to happen in our Representative Republic.

I’ll close by asking one question that has puzzled me to no end throughout this debate: DACA “kids” have been in the U.S. for years. Many illegal immigrants have been in the U.S. for a generation. During all those years, if any of these sincerely wish to be lawful citizens of the United States, why have they not even began the legal process to join the nearly 1 million immigrants who legally enter the U.S. every year?