Be sure to listen to the end, because it isn’t just a populist demolition. In the last minute or so of the video, in a peroration that is both moving and profound, Sessions reminds his fellow Senators of the social contract between Americans and their government, and calls on Senators and other government officials to return the loyalty of the American people.
A year or two ago, most observers thought that immigration “reform” was a foregone conclusion. The entire Democratic Party wanted it, including union leaders who were happy to sacrifice their members’ interests; the Chamber of Commerce wanted it; quite a few libertarians were OK with it; and just about every rich person (and political donor) in America, it seemed, was on board. Democrats and the media confidently declared that Republicans had to go along with amnesty and other “reforms,” or cease to exist.
It was about that time when Senator Jeff Sessions began waging his lonely battle on behalf of American workers. He and his staff tirelessly assembled data, sought information from experts, argued their case with fellow conservatives, and, in the case of Sessions himself, took to the Senate floor to argue and cajole. Sessions has delivered a series of speeches on immigration that, in persuasiveness and effect, deserve to be ranked with some of the great 19th-century debates.
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Complete text and video linked here.
