Speech #1090173783

Many of those criticisms are sadly true. This bill has been tied up for the last week and fits right into the category of political posturing. The earlier immigration bill of the Republicancontrolled House of Representatives. which would have made felons out of many hardworking people and would also have made felons out of many nurses and social workers and clergymen who were trying to help those who are here undocumentedthat bill has been abandoned. Now they are trying to find a new bill. a new wedge issue for the November 7 election. I believe we need stronger enforcement. but we need to be smart in the way we do it. Let me give you some numbers which will give you an indication of what a smart approach might include. In the last decade. we have doubled the number of Border Patrol agents that are at our southern border and other borders where people might cross. and they have spent eight times as many hours patrolling the border in the last 10 years and an 800percent increase in the manhours spent patrolling our borders. During the same period of time that this dramatic increase in manpower at the border has occurred. the number of undocumented immigrants coming into the United States has doubled. As Attorney General Gonzales recently noted. "Some believe we should be focusing solely on border security." He said. "I dont think you can have true security without taking into account the 11 to 12 million who are already here." We need to know who they are . . . and take them out of the shadows. Our bill. our comprehensive bill. sought to deal with this immigration issue in a sensible. smart. tough approach that will deal with enforcement as well as dealing with the reality of those who are here. Now the House of Representatives. under the control of the Presidents party. has refused to sit down with the Senate and negotiate in a conference committee. They apparently prefer tough talk to solutions.