The post KENNEDY JOINS RALLY FOR COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM ( link) has his "remarks as prepared for delivery" at the September 7 Washington DC march

Thank you Jessica Alvarez for that great introduction, and I commend the National Capitol Immigration Coalition [1] for organizing this event.

We're here today to speak out for hardworking immigrant families.

To speak out for America's immigrant heritage.

To speak out for America's future.

Many say that Congress will never hear us.

But we say, "Together, we can." "Si se puede."

Some say we can never win a path to citizenship for hard-working immigrants.

But we say, "Si se puede."

They say we can never pass a good new fair immigration law.

But we say, "Si se puede."

Si se puede. Si se puede. Si se puede.

That's the dream that has inspired America's greatest progress other years.

It's the dream that inspired Cesar Chavez to bring fairness to our nation's farm workers.

It inspired America to demand fair civil rights laws.

It inspired America to demand fair voting rights laws.

And it's the great dream that will guide us now – The American Dream of equal opportunity for all.

And if we can't get this Congress to pass fair immigration reform now, we'll elect a new Congress in November that will pass it.

We will pass an immigration bill in Congress that is worthy of America.

We'll pass a genuinely fair immigration bill that is worthy of America and worthy of the best of the American dream.

Si se puede.

Now is the time. As Cardinal Mahony said a few days ago, "This is one of the most pressing moral and social issues of our time. Congress does not have the right or the luxury to let four weeks go by and refuse to deal with it."

From my office in Boston, I can see the Golden Steps where my great-grandparents arrived as immigrants from Ireland.

They found a land that rewarded their hard work, respected their religious beliefs and enabled them to raise their families. They fought against discrimination and they overcame it. And this generation of immigrants will overcome it too.

Immigrants today are not different. They work hard. They practice their faith. They love their families.

Immigrants have contributed immensely to America throughout our history. In all of our wars, immigrants have fought side by side with Americans – and with great valor. They've earned 20 percent of the Congressional Medals of Honor. More than 60,000 immigrants are in the US military today, and many have made the ultimate sacrifice, dying in the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.

We say Congress must act now and do what is right.

We will never give up, we will never give in. We are fighting for what is right, and we shall prevail.