Speech #1090174071

We do have several hundred miles of fencing currently. but the objective here is to make sure were being smart in securing our border. Commissioner W. Ralph Basham from Customs and Border Protection said: It doesnt make sense. its not practical. We are in the last week of the legislative session. doing our business prior to the time we go out for elections. So what has happened here? What has happened here is people have decided to ride this horse of immigration reform. with all the divisiveness it has created around the country. to try to gain a political advantage in these November elections. It would be my hope that Democrats and Republicans of this body. who stood with the President in calling for comprehensive immigration reform. would stand by those principles and say: We are going to push forward for immigration reform that really works for our country because it addresses all aspects of the immigration issue we face in America. We as a Senate did that several months ago. I was very proud to have worked with people such as Senator McCAIN. Senator GRAHAM. Senator DURBIN. Senator KENNEDY. and a whole host of other people who were involved in putting together what became a comprehensive immigration reform package. It was a lawandorder bill that we debated here on the floor for weeks and was ultimately adopted by a significant bipartisan group of Senators. It was a lawandorder bill because it dealt in a comprehensive way with the issue of immigration. It dealt in a comprehensive way with the recognition that we have a national security crisis on our hands that requires us to deal with immigration reform in a comprehensive way. The components of the legislative which we subsequently shepherded through the Senate included border security. strengthening our border. It included Immigration law enforcement so we make sure that we as a nation uphold our tradition of being a nation of laws. that we enforce our immigration laws here in our country. It also includes huge registration penalties applying against those who have broken the law and have come to this country illegally. The law and order bill deserves the support of the Senate. It is my hope as we move forward in the debate on immigration this week that we return to that legislation and move that legislation as an amendment to the legislation which has been introduced in this body. Let me again quickly walk through to refresh my colleagues memory about the components of this legislation which we felt so urgently was needed to deal with national security and the economic and human reality relating to the immigration issue. First. we all want our borders secure. We recognize we cant have a secure nation if we cant deal with the threats we face with homeland security unless we secure the border.