Speech #1040196691

I had the opportunity for the first time to go to Ellis Island in New York where my grandparents made their first visit to these shores. I was struck as I went there and as I looked through the history of Ellis Island of what it meant and what it still means. I believe as we address immigration issues. we should never lose sight of what Ellis Island and the various other points of disembarkation have meant to those who truly wanted to come to this country to enjoy all that America offersthe American dream. Legal immigration is the American way. It strengthens us economically. culturally. and spiritually. because by letting in those who come here playing by the rules and seeking to build a better life for their families. we welcome true Americans and live up to our own ideals. Indeed. an overwhelming percentage of people in our country have made it clear that they think we should address illegal immigration problems long before we consider changes in the legal immigration laws of this country. and indeed. Mr. President. as I will say at a later point in these debates. it is clear to me that these are very separate issues and. as a threshold matter. we have done the eight thing in the Judiciary Committee. as the House did the right thing. in separating legal and illegal immigration. Cutting legal immigration precipitously could backfire and cause more people to come here illegally. So for those reasons. I strongly support the illegal immigration bill that is before us and believe it should be considered on its own merits as a freestanding piece of legislation. Indeed. that is the position that twothirds of the members of the Judiciary Committee took when we began this debate a few weeks ago. I am convinced that we must concentrate on the real problem facing our country from immigrationlawbreakersand we should not allow any fear of immigrants to distract us from the task of keeping the illegal immigrants out of the country. Mr. President. after we conclude that and once S. 1664 has been disposed of. then it would be appropriate to consider changes that we might wish to make in the laws pertaining to legal immigration. But it is my sincere hope and certainly will be my effort here on the floor to maintain the separation that we achieved in the Judiciary Committee and that was achieved in the House of Representatives. I think that we will make a major step forward if we pass S. 1664. hopefully with certain modifications. I think we would make a big mistake if we backtrack and begin to try and confuse and merge issues that I do not believe are appropriately linked together. I look forward in the days ahead to working hard on the floor. as we did in the Judiciary Committee. to make sure our country moves aggressively and forcefully to address the problems of illegal immigration. I strongly commend Senator SIMPSON and all the members of the subcommittee who worked hard to bring us to this point. Mr.