Speech #1090119092

It is a voluntary program and gives them. as you have already said. the ability to have prescription drug coverage. which many of them have not had in the past. So I want to thank you for talking about Medicare part D. and I know the work that you have done in your district as well to make sure that our seniors know and they make the best decisions for them. But what I wanted to talk about tonight is the Border Protection. Antiterrorism. and Illegal Immigration Control Act. That is the name of the bill that we passed in December of 2005 in this House. Unfortunately. at that time there was not any press coverage about that bill. We really were not hearing about it until the Senate took the bill up about a week or so ago. I know that you and I share the same belief. that the very first step in any debate about immigration reform is the very first debate which has to be secure our borders. We believe that our country must be open for trade. tourism. and legal immigration and closed to terrorists. drug dealers. and criminals. But the bill that passed in December. and I think it is important for America to know. a lot of the components that were in that bill. things such as an employment verification system where employers would be required to check Social Security numbers with Social Security and Department of Homeland Security. today that exists. but it is simply a voluntary program. and we all know the stories about fraudulent documents that are out there. Increased penalties for alien smuggling. mandatory minimum sentences and increased penalties. A crackdown on alien. either legal or illegal. gang members. They would now be inadmissible and deportable. and our Attorney General can designate certain groups as gang members. It also bans benefits for alien gang members. stiffer penalties for aliens who enter after being removed. It bars aliens with aggravated felony convictions from receiving green cards. There is now cooperation and reimbursement between our border sheriffs and our Federal law enforcement to reimburse them for the work that they are doing for us. Increased authority for the Department of Homeland Security to detain dangerous aliens. Our courts have prohibited this in the past. and the result is that dangerous aliens have been released. It also provides for the removal of these aliens. It bars terrorist aliens from naturalization. There is increased security for our borders with both military support and Department of Defense surveillance. It requires a comprehensive risk assessment of our ports and land and maritime borders and radiation detection devices. Increased inspectors. 1.000 over a 4year period. and an additional 1.500 K9 units over the next 5 years. Physical barriers. stateoftheart surveillance technology. including cameras. radar. satellites. and unmanned aerial vehicles. It eliminates the release. which is our current catchandrelease program. and requires that they must remain in custody. an illegal alien. until removed. Better communication and sharing of information with our law enforcement community and promotes international policies with Canada and Mexico and requires reports back to Congress. So I think these are commonsense solutions that America expects Congress to put into place.