MIAMI, July 10 — A congressional hearing on immigration came to a dramatic pause Monday when Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, choked up as he talked about his Italian immigrant father and the opportunities that America had given to his family.

A hush fell over the auditorium at Miami Dade College as Pace, a Marine who was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and grew up in Teaneck, N.J., was overcome with emotion and struggled to continue reading from his statement as the opening witness at the field hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Pace was explaining his family’s origins to the committee and the opportunities he and his three siblings enjoyed in America when he lost his composure, much to the surprise of the 150 people gathered in the hearing room and to the five senators, who sat riveted as the general paused.

After he composed himself, Pace described his older sister, who went to law school, and his older brother, who, like himself, attended the Naval Academy and was a Marine.

“There is no other country on the planet that affords that kind of opportunity to those who come here,” Pace concluded. The audience burst into applause.

Pace’s father was born in Italy in 1914, immigrated to the United States and became an electrician in New York City, raising four children there. The first Marine to be named chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Pace has been chairman since September 2005 after serving as vice chairman for four years.

There is a reason so many people admire Peter Pace. 

Blue Crab Boulevard makes a good point regarding the WaPo’s terrible coverage of the event:

What did they leave out? The information on whether Pace’s father entered the country legally (almost a certainty given the year of his immigration - almost certainly through Ellis Island where my mother’s parents arrived). The point is, I really haven’t heard any illegal immigration opponents who are against legal immigration. I’m not. I welcome them.

Sadly I believe the only reason the WaPo chose to show General Pace in such a sypathetic light is they felt it would advance their immigration agenda. I also noticed their misrepresentation of the major differences between the Senate and House Bills:

The House bill calls for tighter border controls, 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border and funding for local law enforcement agencies along the border. It also calls for tougher deportation standards and stringent enforcement of rules governing employers who hire undocumented workers.

The Senate’s immigration bill, co-sponsored by Kennedy and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), includes similar provisions.

The two bills are not that similar. If they were reaching a compromise would be easy. Yes the house bill is enforcement only. Most Americans can live with that if reform comes afterwards. The Senate Bill provides far too many loopholes and far too little enforcement. Most Americans are against that.