Mr. President. both the Senator from Utah and the Senator from Delaware are certainly hard acts to follow. I want to comment on this bill. but before I do so I want to make a public appeal to the majority leader to please. please. please bring back on the floor the illegal immigration bill. This bill. I believe. has widespread bipartisan support. But more fundamentally. I cannot tell you how important this bill is to the safety and wellbeing of the people of California. Right now on the border you have miles without a Border Patrol agent. Right now. for both Senator BOXER and I. Border Patrol people come in and tell us how they have rocks thrown at them. how they are concerned for their own safety. A few weeks ago you had a major freeway accident with 19 people killed. illegal immigrants in a van. More recently you had an incident. publicized all over the United States. of an unfortunate law enforcement action which involved unrestrained force against illegal immigrants who pummeled on a freeway. hitting other automobiles. trying to get away from a sheriffs officer in pursuit. This is the State that passed Proposition 187. which was a call for help from the Federal Government to enforce the law and change the law and stop illegal immigration. Mr. President. there is so much that this billu orked on so hard by Senator SIMPSON. worked on I think on both sides of the aisle in the subcommittee and in the full committee--does. Let me just say it adds 700 Border Patrol agents in the current fiscal year. 1.000 more in the next 4 years. It takes the total number of agents up to 7.000 by 1999. That is double the force that was in place 3 years ago.
Keywords matched
illegal immigrants illegal immigration Border Patrol