Speech #1090131847

As chairman Specter noted on the floor yesterday. the proponents of the Isakson amendment take the view that we ought to have all our borderstrengthening and security measures in place before we address any aspect of this problem. I dont think that that is an effective approach. In the past. for the last 20 years. when we have tried to approach immigration issues by only looking at one issue at a time. we have failed. We have continually thrown money at a problem to increase border security through funding. Yet our borders continue to be porous and broken. and the lawlessness that comes with that is something we see across America. I dont believe we should let this crisis fester. I dont believe we should continue to tolerate those being in the shadows of society. the 11 million undocumented workers in this country today. I dont believe we in the Senate should stand in the way of a comprehensive immigration reform that has extensive bipartisan support in this body. It is very clear to all of us today that the current situation is inadequate and there is a lot of work that needs to be done. I want to move ahead on all fronts and take the comprehensive approach that has been discussed on this floor. and a comprehensive approach which the President himself has endorsed. National security is at the heart of a workable immigration law. and we should not allow an immigration law to go into effect if it will not address the national security interests of the United States. That is at the heart of my amendment. My amendment is a very simple amendment. As the clerk read that amendment. it was very clear and straightforward. and it simply requires the President of the United States to make a determination that the national security of the United States will be strengthened by the following programs: Title IV. which includes the new guest worker program. and title VI. which includes the provisions relating to the 11 million undocumented workers who are living in the shadows of America today. and it also includes the bipartisan changes to immigration that have been forged in this body by leaders such as Senator CRAIG and Senator FEINSTEIN on agriculture jobs and the DREAM Act. which is another bipartisan measure. Under our amendment. those provisions of the bill cannot be implemented unless and until the President of the United States finds that it is in the national interest and for national security that those provisions of the legislation be implemented. Senator ISAKSONs amendment. on the other hand. is designed to weaken this comprehensive approach. The approach of my friend from Georgia would focus only on border enforcement. When we look at the history of the last 20 years. approaches that have focused on border enforcement only have been approaches that have not succeeded in dealing with the issue of immigration. I agree with President Bush that we need to address this issue in a comprehensive manner. and I urge my colleagues to support amendment No. At the end of the day. it seems to me that those of us in this body who recognize the importance of this Issue need to understand that the stool has to have three legs for us to develop comprehensive immigration reform. First. we need to secure our borders. In the legislation we have proposed. there are multiple provisions that deal with the strengthening of our borders. including the doubling of the number of Border Patrol officers. bringing in new technology that would allow us to make sure we know who is coming and going across our borders. and a number of other provisions that are intended to ensure that our borders become secure. The second leg of that stool is making sure that we are enforcing our immigration laws within our country. We have not done an adequate job of enforcing our immigration laws in this country. The President acknowledged that reality as well. Our legislation will make sure that we are enforcing our immigration laws within the interior of our country. The third leg on that stool is to make sure we are addressing the human and economic reality of the 11 million people who currently live in an undocumented status in America today. Sometimes when we get into these debates on the Senate floor. it is a discussion about policy. but it is also important for us never to forget why we are here. and never to forget that there are. in fact. millions of human beings who are very much affected by the current system of lawlessness on our borders. Sadly. last year. over 300 people died trying to cross the border.