Speech #1100051765

In addition. to make sure we are getting the operational control we need. the amendment has an independent review by the Government Accountability Office of the effort by the Department to meet these different benchmarks so we. as a Congress. will know when there is a certification that the benchmarks have bcen reached. the benchmarks actually will have been reached and they will have been reviewed by an independent group. specifically the Government Accountability Office. to confirm they have been reached. The amendments purpose is to accomplish what the bill wishes to accomplish. The purpose of this amendment is to make sure the first step in this effort of immigration reform is to secure specifically the Southwest border so we have a situation where people are not continuing to cross into this country illegally after we have passed immigration reform--or at least there is a clear roadmap which will get us to the resources and the number of people we need on the southwestern border to assure people wont be coming into this country illegally along that border because we will have the necessary support to accomplish that. It is. I believe. an extremely reasonable amendment. Ironically. the numbers in this amendment have been offered from the other side of the aisle on numerous occasions. or pretty close to these numbers. by Senators who feel. as I do. that the border needs to be secure. I would note especially Senator BYRD has had a number of amendments right along this course where he has said. let us do what we have to do in the area of resources to assure that Homeland Security has the people they need in Border Patrol agents. has the resources they need in the area of detention beds. has the resources they need in the area of a virtual fence and regular fencing in order to adequately control the bordernot adequately. but to have actual operational control over the border. I hope this amendment would be accepted. This is an amendment which toughens up our commitment to border security and it does it in the context of what is an idea that makes a lot of sense. which is the Isakson trigger and. therefore. it is. in my opinion. a significant effort to improve the bill and give people the confidence that when we pass this immigration reform. it will have as its first element our ability to make sure we know who is coming into this country. especially across the Southwest border. Mr. President.