Organizing for America

Fact Check On Washington Post's Inaccurate Depiction of Obama's Role in Immigration Reform

Reality: Obama Was A Key Player In The 2006 Immigration Debate, Was Thanked By Both McCain And Kennedy For His Work, And Received Praise From Outside Groups For His Involvement

McCain: "First Of All...This Legislation Was The Product Of Over A Year Of Negotiation...Myself And Senator Kennedy, Senator Obama, Senator Lieberman, Senator Martinez, Senator Graham-- We Met On Many, Many Occasions And Hammered Out This Bill." "Could I -- I'll be very brief because my colleagues are here to make comments, and I know that you want to ask questions. First of all, I would like to point out that this legislation was the product of over a year of negotiation. Myself and Senator Kennedy, Senator Obama, Senator Lieberman, Senator Martinez, Senator Salazar, Senator Graham -- we met on many, many occasions and hammered out this bill. It was not an easy decision -- some of it for us, nor was it for the Democrats because some of our base is opposed to this legislation, some of the unions are opposed to this legislation. So I'm proud of the product that we put out. I'm grateful for the leadership of Senator Specter and Senator Leahy, and I'm very pleased at the comments that the president has made in the last couple of days." [Transcript, Senate Immigration Reform Press Conference, 3/30/06]

Kennedy And McCain, Authors Of Immigration Reform Bill, Thanked Obama As One Of Small Bipartisan Group Of Senators Who "Stood Together To Make This Legislation Possible." McCain said, "After several weeks of extensive debate and consideration of numerous and complicated amendments, the Senate is about to move to final passage on S. 2611, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act...I also commend the Senate Leadership on both sides of the aisle for their efforts to ensure that the Senate addressed this important issue and gave us more than adequate time for a thorough debate. This is a proud moment for the United States Senate, as we have conducted good work and returned to orderly traditions of the legislative process as envisioned by our founding fathers...And of course, I commend Senator Kennedy, who is perhaps the leading expert on this difficult issue...I also want to thank Senators Brownback, Lieberman, Graham, Salazar, Martinez, Obama, and Dewine for their shared commitment to this issue, and working to ensure this bill moved successfully intact through the legislative process." In a speech on the Senate floor, Kennedy said, "I thank those of our bipartisan group who stood together to make this legislation possible--Senator Graham, Senator Salazar, Senator Martinez, Senator Hagel, Senator Durbin, Senator Lieberman, Senator Brownback, Senator Obama, and Senator DeWine." [McCain Press Release, 5/25/06; Congressional Record, 5/26/06]

Kennedy Praised Obama's Work On Immigration Reform And Gave His Assurance That Obama And Him Would Stand On The Floor Of The Senate Until A Comprehensive Immigration Bill Passed. "Kennedy spoke of Obama as a transformational leader, and made a direct appeal to Hispanic voters by highlighting his work on labor and immigration issues in the Senate. He also attempted to bridge the Hispanic and African American divide by linking the debate over immigration reform with the fight for civil rights. 'There are those [voices] in the floor of the United States Senate that were similar to the voices that I heard in the 1960s -- the voices of discrimination and bigotry and prejudice,' Kennedy said. Obama, he added, has stood with him throughout the effort. 'If you watched him last night, you saw a man of empathy, you saw a man of heart, you saw a man of soul, and I can give you this assurance, that Barack and I are going to stand on the floor of the United States Senate until we get a comprehensive bill.'" [MSNBC, 2/1/08]

Leahy Named Obama As One Of The "People Who Have Worked Together" On The Immigration Reform Bill And Said "There Was A Lot Of Work Behind The Scenes." "Thank you, Arlen. I want to thank you, of course, and Senator Kennedy, who spent all those hours on the floor managing the bill so well. But I also want to thank both our leaders, Bill Frist and Harry Reid. This was done in the way, Arlen, it was so much in legislation when you and I first came here, when Republicans and Democrats worked together. Much the same way we tried to change the tone of the Judiciary Committee, we started with a good base bill, as the majority leader has said, from the Judiciary Committee. There's not everything in here I want; there's not everything that any one of us want. But we've had people who have worked together. I see are the two floor managers. I see Senator McCain and Senator Martinez and Hagel and others -- Obama and Durbin. There was a lot of work behind the scenes, as you can imagine, working out agreements and working out amendments." [Transcript, Press Conference on Senate Immigration Reform, 5/25/06]

Gannett News: "Low-Ranking Obama Front-And-Center On Immigration." In an article entitled, "Low Ranking Obama Front-And-Center On Immigration, Gannett News Service reported, "When the president sat down with eight senators to strategize about immigration last week, the group represented the Senate's elite on the issue. Among them were the top Democratic and Republican leaders, those from border states, two Hispanics and those with a history of involvement with immigration legislation. And then, there was Sen. Barack Obama, Illinois' junior senator, who ranks 98 out of 100 in seniority in the Senate. He is not on the Senate's Judiciary Committee where immigration legislation originated and the state he represents is closer to the Canadian border than the deserts of Mexico...Alejandro Lugo, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois who studies border issues, says Obama's recognition of a border control problem coupled with a practical solution will play well if people are paying attention." [Gannett News Service, 5/1/06]

Illinois Coalition For Immigrants And Refugee Rights Praised Obama For Leadership In Moving Congress Towards New Immigration Laws. "Fred Tsao, policy director for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, praised U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for their leadership in moving toward new immigration laws on Capitol Hill. But 'we must demand similar leadership from the president and the speaker of the House,' he said. 'We need real comprehensive immigration reform that will allow the undocumented to gain legal status, bring families together, respect hard work and help students realize their dreams.'" [Chicago Sun-Times, 4/24/06]

Kennedy Praised Obama's "Willingness To Play A Visible Role In The Debate Over Immigration." Kennedy "Praised Mr. Obama's willingness to play a visible role in the debate over immigration (implying Mrs. Clinton did not) and opposing the Iraq war from the beginning (ditto)." [New York Times, 2/2/08]

Kennedy: Obama "Is One Of Our Committee People Who Has Been Very Involved With Immigration Issues. He Comes In At 8 O'Clock For Morning Meetings And Stays Late After Senate Sessions To Work With Us On These Issues." Kennedy said, "He is one of four people on our committee who has been very involved in immigration issues. He comes in at 8 o'clock for morning meetings and stays late after the Senate sessions to work with us on these issues and more." [Cape Cod Times, 2/1/08]

CQ Report Named Obama As One Of Four Senators Working On McCain-Kennedy Immigration Bill. "The McCain-Kennedy bill has drawn bipartisan support from a wide group of senators, including Republicans Sam Brownback of Kansas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, as well as Democrats Barack Obama of Illinois and Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut. Kennedy's role as a dealmaker and partner to McCain even earned grudging respect from Norquist. 'Apart from Jane Fonda, nobody is wrong on everything in this world,' Norquist said. 'Ted Kennedy is an American and shares a lot of American values. He has respect for immigrants. He takes that to a principled standpoint.' Only a handful of other Senate Democrats publicly addressed the immigration issue as the floor debate approached." [CQ Weekly, 3/27/06]

CQ Cited Obama As One Of The "Senators Engaged In The [Immigration] Debate [Who] Are Working To Address [The] Concerns" Of Other Senators. "A number of senators engaged in the debate are working to address those concerns. Barack Obama, an Illinois Democrat, said a guest worker program should be limited to certain sectors that have a genuine need for migrant workers. Other lawmakers, such as Republican Jon Kyl of Arizona, want the number of guest workers to fluctuate with the economy — cutting off the flow when unemployment increases to a certain point. 'What we don't want is a situation where an international temp agency is created,' said Obama." [CQ Weekly, 5/22/06]

Obama And Martinez Held A Press Conference To Announce Their Partnership On Immigration Reform. "U.S. Senators Mel Martinez (R-FL) and Barack Obama (D-IL) today said that any immigration reform legislation must include tough border and workplace enforcement measures as well as a realistic guest worker program that acknowledges the role of the 11 million immigrants currently living and working illegally in the U.S. Martinez and Obama pledged to work on a bipartisan basis to ensure these complementary efforts are included in any final legislation...Obama, whose father is from Kenya, said: 'I look forward to working with Senator Martinez on achieving bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform. For too long, inadequate enforcement of our borders along with employers who turn a blind eye while hiring illegal workers on the cheap have encouraged more illegal immigration. We have to control the border, and we also must create a guest-worker program that will discourage employers from hiring illegal immigrants and will give the 11 million undocumented immigrants already living in the United States a reason to come out into the open.' Martinez and Obama today sent a letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) outlining their principles and offering suggestions on how they could be most effectively included into the Chairman's Mark. The two are working to build a bipartisan coalition of likeminded members who agree that any successful immigration reform proposal must include both border security and a realistic guest worker program." [Obama/Martinez Press Release, 12/15/05]

Obama Passed Amendments To The Senate's 2006 Immigration Bill That Would Have Established An Employment Verification System And Protected American Workers From Losing Jobs To Guest Workers. In 2006, Obama passed an amendment to the Senate's comprehensive immigration reform bill that ensured that prevailing wage requirements apply to all workers covered by the bill's wage protection provisions. In a speech on the Senate floor, Obama said, "This amendment essentially says that the prevailing wage provisions in the underlying bill should be tightened to ensure that they apply to all workers and not just some workers. The way the underlying bill is currently structured, essentially those workers who fall outside of Davis-Bacon projects or collective bargaining agreements or other provisions are not going to be covered...Everybody in this Chamber has agreed that if we are going to have a guest worker program, it should only be made available where there is a genuine need that has been shown by the employers that American workers are not available for those jobs. Without this amendment, that will not be the case..." Obama was also an original cosponsor of an amendment that would strike the underlying bill's employment verification system and replace it with an electronic verification system that would allow employers to verify the legal status of workers within three days. If a worker's status could not be verified, it would obligate the employer to discharge the worker. It would allow legitimate workers wrongly discharged because of a verification system error to be compensated by the government for lost wages. It would fine employers up to $20,000 for each unauthorized worker hired but the system would not take effect until 18 months after Congress appropriated the $400 million needed to put the program in place. The underlying bill did not pass. [S. Amdt. 4177, Vote 140, Adopted 59-39 (R 17-37; D 41-2; I 1-0); 5/23/06; CQ, 5/23/06; SA 3971 as modified agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote, 5/17/06; Obama Press Release, 5/17/06]