Speech #1090173346

But sometimes its more like slicing salamicutting something into pieces. to be swallowed one at a time. Today. the Republican leadership clearly has decided that sliced salami will be the blue plate special. and that there can be no changes or substitutions. They are saying they favor a piecemeal approach to immigration reform and are more interested in political posturing than in trying to enact legislation that will meet all the challenges involved in strengthening our borders. reducing illegal immigration. and addressing the status of illegal immigrants now in the United States. So they have cut three pieces off the immigration bill the House passed last year. and are bringing them to the floor under this rule which prohibits us from even debating any amendments or offering any additions to the menu. In other words. its take it or leave it. and forget about trying to make any improvementsjust like it was with last weeks serving. the bill for 730 miles of highprice fencing along the border. I think that is wrong. and I cannot support that procedure. However. I will vote for the three separate bills covered by this rule. because while I have some concems about some of their provisions. on balance I think they would improve current law and policies. That was why last year I voted for H.R. 4437. the Border Protection. Antierrorism. and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005. the overall bill from which todays bills have been sliced. Among other ingredients. that bill also included provisions added by the amendment by our colleague from California. Mr. HUNTER. As I mentioned. those provisions were sliced off last week and served up as H.R. 6061. the socalled Secure Fence Act. I am not opposed to the construction of fencing or other barriers along our borders. but I am not convinced Members of Congress should attempt to substitute our judgment about technical questions of engineering and law enforcement for the expertise of those responsible for border security. I voted against the Hunter amendment. and against H.R. 6061. because Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authoritiesthose with the most experience in border security have not requested such a mandated expenditure. and in fact. have expressed a preference for different resources and tools to do their job. Moreover. I am skeptical that the kind of fencebuilding mandated by the Hunter amendment and H.R. 6061 is a costeffective response to the problem of illegal entries into the United States.