Speech #1100056873

It is too important a piece of legislation to rush it through the Senate because of other priorities. Right now. I do not think that the American people believe there is an issue with much higher priority than fixing our immigration system. The system literally is broken. and we have to design an immigration system that is good for America. In the long run. we want to be a welcoming country. a land of immigrants. but also a nation of laws. where people respect the rule of law. I have several amendments I would like to get offered before debate is shut down on this bill. What fixes there are in this bill. as far as whether people who are here illegally get Social Security. but these fixes do not go far enough. On this topic. I have an amendment that actually would fix the Social Security problem. When we began negotiating this bill. at least amongst Republicans. we said to the American people that if the foreigners who are now here illegally are going to get a chance to get a green card and eventually citizenship. they must not be put at the front of the line. I have heard it argued. that such illegal immigrants are not put at the front of the line. That is because there was a little sleight of hand done. They actually got their own separate line. So you have people legally applying for a green card from outside the country over here. The folks who are here illegally today. they have their own separate line. They only compete amongst themselves. But anybody here illegally today. who can prove they have been here before the first of the year. is virtually guaranteed a green card. while those waiting outside the country literally can take years. if not decades to receive the same status. Regarding the meritbased system that was put into the bill. I have another amendment that would say to Z visa holders: You can stay here. But if you want to get a green card and eventually citizenship. you would get in line with all of the other meritbased immigrants who seek that same goal. Not at the front of the line. not at the back of the line. the Z visa holders would get in line with everybody else who is applying for a green card. Then whether an applicant received a green card would be decided based on merit. It is a reward system. Merit is not just whether you have an advanced degree or not.