Speech #1090122391

Madam President. I will vote in favor of cloture on the Judiciary Committee substitute to S. 2454. the immigration bill that is pending. This substitute is not a perfect bill. but it is a good bill. and I urge my colleagues to support it. This Is a defining moment for America. Our immigration system is broken. and it is up to us to fix it. Congress can choose from several paths. We can build a wall around our country and make felons of millions of people who are undocumented or who have provided humanitarian assistance to the undocumented. That is the path the House bill would take. and I believe it is a path that is fundamentally inconsistent with our Nations history and values. But we have another option. a better option. We can recognize that we need a comprehensive. pragmatic approach that strengthens border security but also brings people out of the shadows and ensures that our Government knows who is entering this country for legitimate reasons. so we can focus our efforts on finding those who want to do us harm. That is the Judiciary Committee substitute. and that is the path I believe we must choose. First of all. we can and must bolster our efforts at the borders and prevent terrorists from entering our country. We absolutely must work to curb illegal immigration. and I am pleased that the Judiciary Committee substitute contains strong provisions in this area. But it would be fiscally irresponsible to devote more and more Federal dollars to border security without also creating a realistic Immigration system to allow people who legitimately want [52. Pt. 4 April 6. 2006 to come to this country to go through legal channels to do so. Right now. there are roughly 11 million to 12 million individuals here illegally. The United States issues only 5.000 employmentbased immigrant visas each year for nonseasonal. lowskilled jobs. This is nowhere near the number of jobs that are available but not filled by American workers. More than anything else. this lack of available visas explains why we face such an influx of undocumented workers. These are the facts. and our immigration policy must deal with them. Improving our border security alone will not stem the tide of people who are willing to risk everything. even their lives. in order to enter this country. According to a recent Cato Institute report. the probability of catching an illegal immigrant has fallen over the past two decades from 33 percent to 5 percent. despite the fact that we have tripled the number of border agents and increased the enforcement budget tenfold. If we focus exclusively on enforcement. our immigration system will remain broken. and I fear we will have wasted Federal dollars. We need a new solution. We need to improve security at our borders and create a system that allows lawabiding noncitizens to enter the country legally to work when there is truly a need for their labor and that deals with the "shadow population" of illegal immigrants who are already here. And that is why business groups. labor unions and immigrants rights groups have all come together to demand comprehensive immigration reform. There has been a lot of talk in this debate about "amnesty." Lets be perfectly clear: Not one Senator who supports this committee substitute has suggested giving undocumented aliens blanket amnesty. The committee substitute would require undocumented aliens to show work history. satisfy background checks. pay fines. fulfill English language and civics requirements. and wait at the back of the line in order to obtain permanent status. In other words. people who come forward and play by the rules would be able to earnnot automatically receive but earna path to permanent status. It is easy to argue that those who came here illegally should be sent back to their home countries and that to do otherwise would be an affront to the rule of law. But even Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff acknowledged to the Judiciary Committee last fall that it is impractical. not to mention astronomically expensive. to suggest that we just deport 11 million or 12 million people. We have to grapple with the complex reality in which we find ourselves. and it is not realistic or productive to suggest that mass deportations are a solution. Another provision of this substitute creates a guest worker program that allows employers in the future to turn to foreign labor but only when they cannot find American workers to do the job. This will help avoid a future flow of undocumented workers. Our laws must acknowledge the reality that American businesses need access to foreign workers for jobs they cannot fill with American workers. In my home State. I have heard from many business owners. including a number whose businesses go back for generations. about the need for Congress to fix our broken immigration system because they cannot find American workers. These hardworking American business owners desperately want to follow the rules and cannot fathom why Congress has dragged its feet on this issue for so long. Whether it is tourism or farming or landscaping. our businesses will continue to suffer if we fail to enact meaningful. comprehensive. longterm immigration reform. But once we do. we also need to do a better job of enforcing our immigration laws in the workplace. While the committee substitute recognizes the need for foreign workers. the new guest worker program also includes strong labor protections to ensure that foreign labor does not adversely affect wages and working conditions for U.S. workers. We must not create a second class of workers subject to lower wages and fewer workplace protections.