Marine Gen. Peter Pace paused several times as he spoke at a Senate committee hearing on immigration and appeared choked up as he discussed his parents' hardships and his siblings' success now.

"My dad came here, sometimes worked three jobs, but the jobs were there for him and the opportunities were there for him," Pace, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, said at a field hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "There is no other country on the planet that affords that opportunity to those who come."

Pace also discussed serving in Vietnam next to immigrant Soldiers, including the first Marine that Pace said he lost in combat. He said he was "still on active duty today for one primary reason, and that is I still owe those who served with me in Vietnam."

The hearings are part of the national debate on the current state of U.S. immigration law and how any changes would affect the military.

The Senate has approved a bill that would allow a majority of the estimated 12 million foreigners living in the country illegally to eventually become legal permanent residents and citizens, and that would approve a guest worker program. A bill approved by the House would make illegal immigrants felons with no provision for future guest workers. House and Senate negotiators have not worked out a compromise.

Pace pointed out that 200 awards or medals have gone to non-U.S. citizens in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and that 101 non-U.S. citizens have died in military action since the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said it would be an affront to the members of the military who are immigrants to make felons of their family members. Kennedy cited statistics that showed about 24,400 non-U.S. citizens currently are on active duty in the armed forces.

"It is an insult to their dedication to our defense," Kennedy said.

The Senate hearings are designed to solicit opinions on the importance of immigrants who serve in the military. The committee likely chose Miami for a field hearing because about 60 percent of the city's population is foreign born, well above the national figure of about 11 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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