Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Announcing He Will Vote No On The Cloture Vote On The Laken Riley Act Because Of Senate Republicans’ Unwillingness To Have A Serious Debate To Improve The Legislation

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on today’s vote on the Laken Riley Act and announced he will vote no on cloture but stands ready to pass bipartisan and common sense border and immigration legislation. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

This morning, the Senate is scheduled to hold a cloture vote on the Laken Riley Act.

A week ago, I joined with the majority of my Democratic colleagues in voting yes to bring this bill to the floor on the motion to proceed. We told Republicans we wanted to have a serious and productive and fruitful debate on this legislation, with the chance to vote on amendments modify the bill.

Democrats filed many amendments to the bill, but unfortunately our Republican colleagues, and the Republican Leader, didn’t reach an agreement with us. We voted on two amendment votes, one from each party, and no more.

Unfortunately, without more changes to address deficiencies in the bill, I will be voting no.

We Democrats want to see our broken immigration system fixed. We worked with Republicans last year on the strongest immigration bill in a decade. While I do not support this particular bill, I stand ready to work with both sides to pass smart, effective, and common sense legislation to secure our borders and reform our immigration system.  

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