{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://pearce.house.gov/editorial/cooperation-possible", "Cooperation is Possible", "2014-03-27", "2014", "2014-03", "Republican", "House", "NM", "Steve Pearce", "P000588", "pearce.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "In the border towns from Hachita, NM to El Paso, TX, the news about immigration reform hasn\u2019t changed much.\u00a0 Here, the border is something we live with every day\u2014as we commute to work, as we go to school, as we read the local news.\u00a0 Immigrants aren\u2019t statistics or political issues, they are spouses, cousins, neighbors, coworkers, friends.\nImmigration reform goes beyond party lines.\u00a0 Everybody here knows we need it.\u00a0 Commuters want an easier drive and better security practices.\u00a0 Ranchers whose land reaches the border want to find better ways to work with the border patrol agents who keep them safe.\u00a0 Family members of U.S. citizens want a way to finally join their husband or wife here in the U.S.\u00a0 Business owners want clear answers and better hiring procedures.\u00a0 Everyone is affected, and everyone wants solutions.\nTo find those solutions, we should concentrate on what we agree on.\u00a0 We already know what the two sides disagree on\u2014but that\u2019s only a small piece of the bigger picture.\u00a0 As a Texas Democrat and a New Mexico Republican, it\u2019s no secret that we don\u2019t agree on everything.\u00a0 But without compromising our own principles, we can still find some common ground.\nThat\u2019s why the two of us are trying something different.\u00a0 At a time when partisan gridlock grinds Washington to a halt, and people doubt whether anything will ever change, we\u2019re coming together.\u00a0 A Republican and a Democrat, a New Mexican and a Texan, working in spite of our differences to find the solutions we can agree on.\nWe started last fall, with a simple proposal to help American families.\u00a0 We both agreed that our laws should not tear families apart, yet that is exactly what it does.\u00a0 We heard from constituents who have been separated from their families because of minor technical violations, or issues that occurred long ago, when the family member was a minor.\u00a0 Until 1996, a judge could review such cases, but a minor change in the law has left these families without any voice.\u00a0 So, we teamed up to introduce our simple bipartisan solution: the American Families United Act.\u00a0 This bill would again grant discretionary authority to review certain such cases, so that we can make honest, human determinations in our immigration system.\nNow, we\u2019re teaming up again to address another issue.\u00a0 We represent very different districts, but we had both heard similar concerns: local Border Patrol lacks accountability, and struggles to interact with the local community.\u00a0 Commuters worried that they had nowhere to go if they felt mistreated.\u00a0 Ranchers worried about gates left open by agents as they did their jobs.\u00a0 So, this week, we introduced H.R. 4303, the Border Enforcement, Accountability, Oversight, and Community Engagement Act of 2014.\u00a0 The bill adds new training to help Border Patrol agents work closely with the communities in which they serve.\u00a0 And, it introduces an ombudsman so that locals can have their voices heard and a channel for their concerns to be resolved quickly and effectively.\nThese bills are only a starting point.\u00a0 There is still a long road ahead of us, and much work to be done.\u00a0 But we just don\u2019t accept the line that immigration reform is dead, or that we are out of solutions.\u00a0 It is possible to come together.\u00a0 It is possible to end the gridlock.\u00a0 And it is possible to create a better future.\nCongressman Steve Pearce, a Republican, represents New Mexico\u2019s Second Congressional District, which includes the state\u2019s entire border with Mexico.\u00a0 Congressman Beto O\u2019Rourke, a Democrat, represents Texas\u2019 Sixteenth Congressional District, which includes the El Paso area.\u00a0 The two have now cosponsored two separate bills related to border and immigration issues.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://pearce.house.gov/editorial/cooperation-possible"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3448907993733883, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}