Speech #1040203015

My efforts. which have been with a slightly different philosophical approach. are not meant to in any way suggest that what he has done has not been based upor sound thinking on his part. However. I say from the outset. he indicated there were a lot of funny things that came up during immigration. a lot of intriguing twists and turns. I agree with him completely. The one thing that I learned more than anything else during our experience In the committee was the very real need to keep illegal and legal immigration issues separate rather than joining them together. I also learned it was imperative that in discussing whether It was the illegal immigration issues or the legal immigration issues. they be done in a total and comprehensive way. Indeed. our committee deliberations on this lasted almost a full month. Mr. President. That is why I think it is important that we continue the pattern which was set in that committee of dealing with illegal immigration issues in one context. the bill before us. and reserving the legal immigration issues. issues of how many visas are going to be provided. how those visas will be allocated. and so on. the legal immigration bill. which is also at the desk. It is wrong to mix these two. As a very threshold matter in this whole debate about immigration. Senators should understand the very real differences between the two. Illegal immigration reform legislation. the legislation before the Senate right now. aims to crack down on people who break the rules. people who violate the laws. people who seek to come to this country without having proper documentation to take advantage of the benefits of America. people who overstay their visas once they have come here. in order to take advantage of this country. That is what this bill is all about. It does an extraordinarily good Job of dealing with the problems surrounding illegal immigration. It is a testament. in no small measure. of the Senator from Wyomings longtime efforts that such a fine bill has been crafted. But there is a very big difference between dealing with folks who break the rules and break the laws and seek to come to this country for exploitative reasons. and dealing with people who want to come to this country in a positive and constructive way to make a contribution. to play by the rules. and. frankly.