Speech #1090096588

Mr. President. the majority leader has said that after the first of the year we would turn our attention to immigration. and well we should. Some estimates show that 10 to 20 million people living in the United States may be here illegally. Whatever one may think about immigration. one has to start with the idea that our Nation is based on a few principles. and one of the most important of those principles is the rule of law. This is a problem we need to address and the American people have a right to demand we address. The buck stops here. This is not something Governors can deal with or school districts can deal with. It stops here. Not long ago in Nashville I gave a speech in which I attempted to say I believe there are three parts to a comprehensive solution to immigration. the kind of comprehensive solution President Bush has talked about. Part No. 1 is border security. I had no more said the words "border security" than the whole room rose and began to applaud. they were not interested in the rest of the story. I would like to say a word today about the rest of the story. what our immigration debate needs to include in addition to border security. Let me turn to a lesson we are learning from across the ocean. from Great Britain and France. Last month. the British Government instituted a citizenship test that immigrants to Britain must pass before becoming British citizens. When he announced a number of related measures regarding British citizenship last August. Prime Minister Tony Blair said: People who want to be British citizens should share our values and our way of life. These new rules were spurred by the terrorist attack in London last July in which four young men. three of whom were Britishborn children of Pakistani immigrants and the fourth who was a Jamaican immigrant. bombed the London subway system. In addition to taking new security precautions. the British Government recognized the need to ensure that immigrants to their country. and especially those who become citizens. integrate into British society and demonstrate loyalty to their newly adopted homeland.