mr. rubio: are we in morning business? the presiding officer: yes. mr. rubio: thank you, madam president. i wanted to speak for a few moments on the floor as we finished the business for this work period and return to our home states for about a week, we'll be back here i think on the 6th of may and at that time i will continue this important conversation we're having on a number of issues but one of them is this issue of immigration recently back in the news as a result of some efforts we had here. let's begin by saying -- let's scribe describe that the reality that the united states faces today. foyers and foremost this is a country that doesn't need to be convinced of the benefits of legal immigration. virtually every single one of us, people that comblork work in this building and across this country are all but a generation or two removed from someone that came here from into some where else. we don't need to be convinced of the virtues of immigration. we see them every single day and read about them in terms of innovations that have changed the econ

mr. rubio: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. rubio: madam president, i ask unanimous consent i be recognized to speak as if in morning business up to 15 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. rubio: thank you, madam president. this we can i join my colleagues to intiewfer immigration reform that seeks to end de facto amney by the strongest measures in u.s. history and modernizing our immigration system to unleash the job creation potential that immigration has. let me begin by stating the obvious. that is america is a nation of immigrants. we know that because every single one of us can track our lineage to someone to came here from somewhere else. it makes us different and special from the rest of the world. the history of the world is people being told you can only do what your parents did for a living, how far you'll go in life depends on what your parents used to do and who you're conne

this at the end of the day are those who are more interested in keeping the status quo, which as mr. rubio said is really de facto amnesty because you have a situation where employers are able to game the system by hiring undocumented immigrants and competing unfairly with good employers. i think what he and the gang of eight have managed to do is a compromise that attempts to thread the needle to restaore te rule of law. there are some things i won't necessarily agree with but i think we all have to understand that we are at the verge of an historic moment of an issue that has haunted us in which the american public is in a much more pragmatic place than congress has been. >> as you point out, the status quo has been something of -- politicians have counted on it when it comes to this issue. listen to john mccain on that issue. >> this is a vehicle that requires hearings and requires input and we welcome all of that. i am guardedly optimistic that we will see finally the end of this long, long trek that a lot of us have been on for many years. >> the long, long trek. isn't this something

what game is mr. rubio actually playing? to be suspicious, but do you think he's slightly concerned that he might not get any credit for something if it moves too quickly? >> martin, it was marco rubio's early april fool's day joke. >> right. >> i don't know really, but i think what we see here is marco rubio continuing to play to the far extreme right wing of the party. we know that any potential progress on a deal, this right wing of the gop will continue to brand it as amnesty for 11 million people, undocumented people. and they continue to perpetuate the problems, the stereotypes, the prejudice that exists for people in this country. and so we have to look at the progress that is being made. we see that there are folks that are working very diligently to find a pathway forward for 11 million undocumented, as well as other programs that impact other members of congress. for example, there are sticking points such as a diversity visa, for all intents and purposes sounds like it's out of the deal. there are a lot of members

mr. rubio. >> very good. thank you. >> what is going on in the next 14 seconds? what is going on at buzz feed? >> marco rubio, a gang of one is all anybody is talking about, it seems like. >> very good. >>> we will be right back with more "morning joe." ♪ come and get it for crying outloud ♪ it's monday. a brand new start. your chance to rise and shine. with centurylink as your trusted technology partner, you can do just that. with our visionary cloud infrastructure, global broadband network and custom communications solutions, your business is more reliable - secure - agile. and with responsive, dedicated support, we help you shine every day of the week. ♪ [ female announcer ] nature valley protein bars, with simple, real ingredients, like roasted peanuts, creamy peanut butter, and a rich dark-chocolate flavor, plus 10 grams of protein, so it's energy straight from nature to you. nature valley protein bars. withyou'll find reviewsve time, on home repair to healthcareon. written by people just like you. you w

"the washington post" this morning, is mr. rubio on the fence? is he a tea party darling, or the architect of a historic immigration bill? he can't be both, is what they say. if gop stars decide once and for all to lead, that may be enough to sway fence-sitting republicans in the house. if they waver, in this attempt at immigration reform like those of past years is as good as dead. >> guest: i mean, senator rubio's in a very unique position here. he's, obviously, a rising star in the gop. you know, you can't talk about 2016 without somebody mentioning him as a possibility. so the idea of getting, you know, coming into this group and helping shepherd through an immigration reform would be huge. the party after the 2012 election came back and was very, you know, forthcoming about the idea that they add to do better with hispanic voters. mitt romney was crushed by president obama when it came to hispanic voters. and so on that front there's a party-wide effort to really at the very least improve the tone when it comes to immigrants, and beyond that

mr. chairman. thank you, senator rubio, for holding this hearing. you might not think of coast guard as minnesota but as admiral papp -- he said i do. he mouthed the word like we were getting married. >> right answer. >> admiral papp and acting administrator sullivan, thank you for being here. duluth, some of the ice breaking issues we have. and other things. so i appreciate the leapt that you've given us there as well as the issue that we have on some of the guide service issues which i'm not going to get into today. today i really wanted to focus on the floods that we're seeing in the red river valley. the national weather service's north central river forecast center is very important for us to pretect the heightened time of the river crest. two weekends ago i went home and it was 70-some degrees in washington and we had a foot of snow. the governor and i and senator franken had to head down to southwestern minnesota where we have a disaster area where we have ice cycles taking down trees and putting out power. last weekend we got another foot of

to be introduced at capitol hill.hill florida republican senator, marco rubio defenderred the the measure on the sunday morning mr talk show.talk y tell immigration, and illegal immigrants applying for citizenship will have to pass a background check in order to orr receive a permit. permit that permit will allow them to o travel, and pay taxes and afterr 10 years they can apply forply legal status.. >>> the regard small area plan calls for demolition of nearly 2500 apartments at bog art street, and seminary road.road the area is home to many low may income residents. rsi the apartments will be replaced with a mixed use community buil over a period of 20 to 30 yearsr under the plan residents whose s apartments are being demolishedd will get help to find a new new place to live, and money for fo moving costs. it will have more room for moreover time. >>> it's tax time, we're getting a look at ghaifort famil what ti will pay for 2012.2012. >>> a district attorney and hiss wife murdered and this morning a potential arrest in the case fog thfollowing at rest of a former justice of the peace. blam 

rubio. these are polls taken off something that is far, far away. only mr.e and tattoo on this political fantasy island. nevertheless, it is abuzz this week. >> we have a very, very long way to go until 2016. when you look at the numbers that show joe biden, hillary clinton versus their respective counterparts, the democrats have the advantage. i think that is generic. they're in a stronger political decision over republicans. things can change. there will be a lot of twists and turns over the next few years. i would note the one republican who gives both hillary clinton and joe biden a run for their money is chris christie who was uninvited at that recent cpac conference in the washington, d.c. area. so very, very interesting numbers. >> now from the fantasy of the future to the serious issue of right now, gun control legislation, the proposals on the table. president obama back in connecticut on monday. the white house confirmed the first lady will be in chicago on wednesday. >> this was a very busy and consequential week. this is shaping up to be an incre

mr. luntz was surreptitiously recorded while giving a talk to college students in philadelphia. here's what we said about marco rubiond lurush limbaugh. take a listen to this. >> if you take marco rubio's getting his -- kicked. who's my rubio fan here? we talked about it. he's getting destroyed by mark levin and by rush limbaugh and a few others. >> what's the right wing radio's fear's response to that been like? >> it's been savage from the very beginning, and poor marco rubio's been going twice now, at least, before on rush limbaugh's show to try to talk him down from this. it's very difficult because they had been allies. marco rubio is a tea party favorite or at least he was until this very moment. it is correct that these guys are not republicans as much as they are ideologues. they don't really care about how well the party does in an electoral sense. so, indeed, it's better for rush limbaugh, for mark levin, for glenn beck to be in opposition. so they'd be perfectly happy sending the republican party into oblivion, and at some point there's got to be some leadership in the party that's going to be brave enoug

rubio. there's an outreach to many of the talk show hosts. many of those who are a posed to -- opposed in past and called amnesty. we have been able to make an argument that mr of -- many of the people -- one it's not am test any and we'll have a secure border and won't have a third wave of people to come this country illegal. that was the great concern in the past. and finally, we are able to convince people that it is good for the american economy. >> reporter: half of million workers here -- [inaudible] between professional and white collar workers will the american people accept half a million every year. >> what we're doing is taking in people when there is not a job available to americans. that's one of the underlying principles of our bill. we are desperately short of engineers and ph.d.es and matt and science and the people tend to be the job creators. a quarter of the silicon valley was found by immigration. -- statement american -- if we don't have imported labor for farm work we won't grow crops and will import food. it's not the number. it's the way we have done it this which is important. i have been tough on provision where americans will dot j

senators schumer, mccain, durbin, menendez, graham, bennett, rubio and flake have worked very, very hard on this legislation. and, mr president, all one needs to do is look at the legislative pedigree of these eight senators. they are all over the book: liberal, conservative, moderate. and that's the way it should be. i commend each of them for setting partisanship aside, both democrats and republicans setting partisanship aside on an issue that's critical to our great nation. you know, the four democrats didn't get everything i wanted in that legislation that they now have before the american people. they didn't give me, they didn't give democrats everything that they wanted in these negotiations. but, mr. president, as i've said on this floor numerous times, that's what legislation is. it's the art of compromise. it's not the art of getting everything you want. i've been in this body a long time. i've been very fortunate to put my name on things that passed here. i helped guide things through this senate in the last many years. and i have on occasion to swallow hard and say we're going to have to compromise here t