Hillary on immigration, faith
Posted: Friday, June 15, 2007 12:48 PM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Democrats
From NBC's Lauren Appelbaum
At the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast in DC this morning,
Clinton wasted little time in bringing up the immigration bill, stating her excitement that debate on the bill will once again convene with the hopeful goal of its passage. She reminisced about her childhood experiences, mentioning how she volunteered as a babysitter for young children of migrant workers on Saturdays, and realizing "at that young age, how similar their families were to mine." She tried to connect with the Hispanic preachers -- but did not repeat the mistake she made in Selma, AL by becoming a preacher herself and changing her mannerisms and accent to reflect her audience.
Clinton focused on the need for cooperation between Republicans and Democrats on immigration. Her speech followed those of
Howard Dean,
President Bush, and Sens.
Ted Kennedy and
Mel Martinez, and she brought up President Bush's position in the line-up. "There are those who say, well, President Bush and Senator Kennedy, they are so far apart politically. Well, yes, on many issues they are. But what is more important is where they are together." Clinton continued to emphasize her point. "When we compromise, that should not be viewed as a weakness but really what needs to happen in our system."
(However, as USA Today wrote this morning, Clinton and most other senators who are running for president haven't played a major role in the negotiations over the immigration bill.)
She stressed her commitment to her immigration stance. "In the debate over immigration, I have made family reunification my mission," Clinton said. "I don't think our country, of all countries, should be furthering family breakup and disunity." She recounted the many ways immigrants have and continue to build up our nation and stated her hope that United States would now "honor their work by giving them the opportunity to have that path to legalization." She also said her faith influenced her decisions, including those on the immigration debate. And she said her desire to work in politics stemmed from her Methodist upbringing of combining work and faith to bring hope -- leaving her with a charge to help the people needing the most help, the poor and the immigrants. "Those of us in politics who are motivated by our faith must also look for ways on the political level [so] we can provide hope as well."