After days of debate, the Senate Judiciary Committee took a major step Tuesday in making comprehensive immigration reform into law by passing the compromise bill by a large majority.
The committee voted 13-5 to pass the bill to the full Senate for a vote, keeping the bill largely intact amid opposition and amendments that sought changes to the heart of the legislation, specifically the part that grants a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants living illegally in the U.S.
According to ABC News, the audience erupted into cheers when the voting was announced, chants of "Yes, we can" filling the room.
Roughly 300 amendments were presented before the committee for consideration over five days of intense debate on the committee floor, both advocates and opponents of the bill exchanging some impassioned pleas and pushing hard for their agendas to come through.
In the end, the 13-5 vote approving the bill consisted of three Republicans and 10 Democrats.
President Obama issued a statement Tuesday commending the senate committee for their approval of the bill that he called "is largely consistent with the principles of commonsense reform I have proposed and meets the challenge of fixing our broken immigration system."
"The process for considering this legislation has been open and inclusive with multiple hearings, and more than a hundred amendments were considered and adopted, in many cases with bipartisan support," President Obama added. "I applaud the Committee members for their hard work, especially "Gang of Eight" members Senators Schumer, Durbin, Graham and Flake. None of the Committee members got everything they wanted, and neither did I, but in the end, we all owe it to the American people to get the best possible result over the finish line."
Senators involved in the proceedings also gave their thoughts following the bill's passage in committee.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a member of the "Gang of Eight," praised the passage of the bill.
"We have a historic opportunity to end today's de facto amnesty and modernize our immigration system to meet our 21st century needs. I remain optimistic that the Senate, by improving the bill through an open and deliberative floor debate, will seize this opportunity," Sen. Rubio said.
"The dysfunction in our current immigration system affects all of us and it is long past time for reform. I hope that our history, our values, and our decency can inspire us finally to take action," committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., told the Washington Post.
Now comes the true test for the bill as it heads before the full Senate, facing the task of being approved at both the Senate and a GOP-controlled House, with Republican opponents at both levels eager to derail the legislation.
Sen. Rubio, who noted the challenge ahead, noted amid the celebration of the bill's passage in committee that there was still work ahead of them in making the bill into law.
"Immigration reform will not become law unless we can earn the confidence of the American people that we are solving our immigration problems once and for all," he said.
"We can do it," Sen. Leahy said during closing remarks. "Now, let's go out of this room and work with other members of the Senate and the other body ... and we will be a better Senate, a better Congress but, most importantly, a better country for it."
On a notable incident, Sen. Leahy introduced, but then withdrew, an amendment that would have allowed gay and lesbian couples the same rights as heterosexual U.S. citizens in sponsoring their foreign-born partners for visas.
While doing so "with a heavy heart," Sen. Leahy vowed to continue to "fight for equality."
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