Speech #1090119598

SANTORUM. FRIST. and MCCONNELL. I have introduced S. 1815. the Strengthening American Citizenship Act that is indispensable to any comprehensive immigration bill. This legislation I plan to offer as an amendment at the appropriate time during this debate would help legal immigrants who are embarked on a path toward citizenship to learn our common language. to learn our history. and to learn our way of government by the following steps: No. 1. providing them with $500 grants for English courses. No. 2. allowing those who become fluent in English to apply for citizenship 1 year early. that is. after 4 years instead of 5. next. providing grants to organizations to offer courses in American history and civics. next. authorizing a new foundation to assist in these efforts. next. codifying the oath of allegiance. which new citizens swear when they are naturalized. It is an oath of allegiance that is very much like the oath of allegiance George Washington and his officers took at Valley Forge in 1778. about which I am going to have more to say. In addition. our amendment would ask the Homeland Security Department. working with the National Archivist and others in our Government. to carry out a strategy to highlight the ceremonies. such as the one the President attended this week. in which immigrants become American citizens. finally. our amendment would establish an award to recognize the contribution of outstanding new American citizens. Harvard political scientist Samuel Huntington has written that most of our politics is about conflicts among principles that unite us as a country. More than any other subject we might discuss. this immigration debate will involve the basic principles of what it means to become an American. That is why we begin the debate with border security. not because we are proimmi52. Pt. 4 4523 grant or antiimmigrant. That is not what we are talking about. We begin the debate with border security because as Americans we believe in the principle of the rule of law. It is hypocritical for us in the United States of America to preach to the world about the rule of law. yet thumb our nose at the 12 million people who live here illegally. It is hypocritical and it is dangerous to our security not to control our own borders. There is no apology to be made for us as Americans insisting on the principle of the rule of law. just as there should be no other hesitancy about other principles. such as welcoming those who temporarily work here and study here. So the principle of the rule of law is not the only principle that is at stake in this debate. We create a legal status for those from other countries whom we welcome to temporarily study and work here because of the principle. first. of equal opportunity. because we are a nation of immigrants. that is a part of our character. and because we founded our economy upon the principle of laissez faire. In other words. we are a free market economy. So there are three more principles we need to throw into the mix along with the rule of law: equal opportunity. a nation of immigrants. laissez faire. We may be outsourcing jobs. but for years we have won our wars and built our economy by "insourcing" brain power. Wernher von Braun and his colleagues from Germany helped us in the space race against the Soviets. Sixty percent of the American winners of Nobel Prizes in physics are immigrants or children of immigrants. Sixty percent of the postdoctoral students at our universities in America are foreign students. There are 572.000 foreign students studying at colleges and universities in the United States. While they are here. these students and researchers from other countries help create a higher standard of living for us Americans. and when they go home they export our values better than any foreign aid ever has. In addition. many of the workers our economy needs to grow come from neighboring countries. I asked my staff to see if I could get an estimate of how many visas we have on the books today for workers coming to the United States from other countries. As best we can tell. we have about 500.000 visas of different forms that may be issued each year. of one kind or another. to unskilled and skilled people who come to our country. Add that to the 572.000 foreign students who study in our country and we have today a large number of people from other parts of the world who are here. enriching our country and improving our standard of living. I ask unanimous consent that this list of visas for workers coming to the United States from other countries each year be printed in the RECORD following my remarks.