Speech #1100049268

We have uncontrolled borders. The legislation we are working on goes a long way. It increases the number of Border Patrol officers from 12.000 to 18.000. it will have 200 miles of vehicle barriers and 370 miles of fencing. 70 groundbased radar and camera towers. unmanned aerial vehicles. and detention space to hold some 27.500 daily on an annual basis. We have interior security provisions. We have tough employer sanctions because we are structuring a system where we can make a positive identification as to who is legal and who is illegal. This is an appropriate basis for imposing tough sanctions on employers if they hire illegal immigrants. because they are in a position to make a determination as to who is legal or who is illegal. At the other end of the political spectrum. there are objections that the program is not sufficiently humanitarian. not sufficiently compassionate. and does not sufficiently provide for family unification. If we are to handle the backlog of people who have been waiting to come into this country with the existing requirements to gain citizenship. and if we are to deal with the millions of undocumented immigrants. we will have to have additional green cards. But there will have to be limitations so we do not have what is euphemistically referred to as chain immigration. We are working on a points system which we are trying to balance. It is very hard to satisfy all competing interests. to balance the demand for Ph.D.s and highly skilled people with the desire to provide opportunities for people who are not highly skilled. Certain points are being given to recognize the family. to have as many family members and as much on family reunification as we can. within a balanced system. The old adage that the devil is in the details is obviously present here. This morning one group of Senators met at a little after 9: another group of Senators met at 10:15. We are continuing the meetings as we try to come to grips and resolve these issues. The whole immigration issue is another third rail in politics. Social Security has been described as the third rail of our political system. There is no doubt that immigration is another third rail. It may supplant Social Security as the third rail of the political system because. no matter what we do here. both ends of the political spectrum will criticize us--criticize us for amnesty on one hand. criticize us on the other end of the political spectrum for not being sufficiently compassionate. Politically. it is a loser for those who are engaged in it. But we have a public duty to come to grips with this issue and to have comprehensive immigration reform. We can do that and insist on having border patrols and employer sanctions before we work through the guest worker program. It is truly. as we are structuring it. a temporary worker program. where people come to the United States for a period of time and go back to their native countries. It is a system where we are giving as much support and as much preference for families as we can on a balanced system. and as much to the highskilled workers to balance off against the lowskilled workers. The most important thing. as I see it. is to move ahead and persevere. to try to structure a bill which is now 380 pages longit is in text. thanks to the dedicated work of the staffand to present it on the floor of the Senate and have the Senate work its will. Aside from the political perils. the object is to restore the rule of law and to bring these 11 to 12 million undocumented immigrants out of the shadows. The advantage to society generally is to eliminate this massive underclass. this massive number of individuals who are in the shadows. and to structure a system where they will. at the outset. have visas to stay here for as long as they like. so long as they comply with our laws and get into the citizenship line at the rear. We are looking to reestablish the rule of law and to avoid the anarchy which now characterizes our immigration system. I thank the Chair. yield the floor. and suggest the absence of a quorum.