Speech #1090100505

Because of this. the debate that we started yesterday and continue today is of special and personal interest to me. So. America has a proud tradition as a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. But unfortunately. our current immigration laws and system have failed us. As a predicate for labor to grow. and for the country to achieve all the things it needs to. we need tough. smart. and comprehensive immigration reform that reflects current economic realities. that respects the core values of family unity and fundamental fairness. and that upholds our proud tradition as a nation of immigrants. We need to aggressively seek to curtail crossings at the border and we need smart enforcement measures that prevent illegal immigration. so that our immigration system is safe. legal. orderly. and fair to all. Our goal should be neither open borders nor closed borders. but smart borders. Now. tough enforcement laws may make us feel good. but they do not do the job all by themselves. Since 1986. we have tripled the number of Border Patrol agents and increased the enforcement budget 10 times over. but we havent made a dent in the number of undocumented workers who make it here. Mr. Chairman. 1 year ago tomorrow. President Bush signed into law the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act. As one of the conferees on that bill. I want to remind Members that it contained 43 sections and 100 pages of immigrationrelated provisions. These tough. but smart new measures include. among others. adding thousands of additional Border Patrol agents. Immigration and Customs investigators and detention beds. and criminalizing the smuggling of immigrants. just as the 9/11 Commission recommended. I am sure that the American people assume that their government has not only implemented. but also fully funded these tough measures to ensure our Nations safety. Unfortunately. the Presidents budget and the Republican Congress have chosen not to do so. In fact. as part of the fiscal year 2006 appropriations process. the Republican Congress has provided a shortfall of: 500 Border Patrol agents of the 2.000 new Border Patrol agents called for this year by that law. 482 investigators of the 800 immigration enforcement investigators. and 4.130 detention beds of the 8.000 additional detention beds required. So much for being tough. And so much for fully funding what is called for in the bill we are currently debating. I mean. who truly believes that we will fully fund and build the fence along the southwest border of the United States that so many of my colleagues voted for last night? So we are not only passing a variety of provisions that will most likely never be fully funded or enforced. but we are also criminalizing not only millions of undocumented workers in the United States. but also citizens of this country. Under the guise of a much broader definition of smuggling. this bill could allow the Govemnment to prosecute almost any American who has regular contact with undocumented immigrants. Certainly alien smuggling and trafficking for profit are activities that need to be sanctioned. and current law. part of last years intelligence reform bill. provides for harsh penalties. However. under the broad language contained in this bill: A soccer mom who drives her neighbor to the grocery store. or has a livein nanny could be penalized for "transporting".