Speech #1100052896

I appreciate my colleague from New Jersey and the passion and value he brings to this debate. it is tremendous. and we are all better for it. I am grateful to him. I rise this afternoon to. once again. discuss the dire need we have in this country and in our communities for comprehensive immigration reform. I do believe the debate on immigration reform has been the kind of meaningful. bipartisan approach in the Senatewith Senators KYL and KENNEDY working together. Senator MCCONNELL and Leader REID working togetherthis is a bipartisan approach and the debate the American people expect out of the Senate. 1 am proud we aie moving forward on it because of the immediate need but also the way we are going about this process. Despite the Senates success in producing a bipartisan bill last year. the issue still has not been resolved. There is still much to be questioned. and we are working through that. The majority of my colleagues will agree that our Nations current immigration system is badly broken. it is out of date. and it desperately needs to be fixed. I plan to look for any plan that we can support that is tough and practical and fair in dealing with this everincreasing issue. Without a doubt. the top priority must be the safety and security of our country. as well as the economic needs of industry. U.S. citizens. and immigrants. But most importantly. the security issue is one of our top priori ties. I am so pleased the underlying bill includes tiggers to require that Border Patrol agents are significantly increased and vehicle barriers and fencing are installed along the southern border with Mexico before any of the other provisions can even begin. making sure that we are taking care of what we know we can do and we can do quickly. I believe this bill is a work in progress. though. just as any other bill we bring before the Senateworking hard through the committee process and through years of debate. but also recognizing that we are not here to create a work of art but to create a work in progress. Through these debates and actually through implementation. we learn what works and what doesnt work. what the current needs of our country are.