I thank the Chair. In a moment. I want to talk about an amendment I will be offering with Senator GRASSLEY to the immigration reform bill. That is amendment No. 1332. I should mention this amendment has been endorsed by the AFLCIO. It was endorsed by the Programmers Guild and by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Before I speak about the amendment. it is important. as we debate the immigration bill. to talk about what is happening to the lives of Americans who live in the middle class and the workIng families of the country. I fear that in this long and complicated immigration bill. sometimes we lose track of the impact of this bill on the lives of American workers. This bill deals in a reasonable way in terms of dealing with the very serious problem of illegal immigration. It says we must strengthen our borders and not allow people to so easily come into the country. That is long overdue. and it is absolutely right. It says finally we must begin to hold employers accountable for the illegal immigrants they are hiring. something the Bush administration has been very reluctant to do. That is extremely important. This bill also carves out a path to citizenship which. frankly. is the right thing to do.
Keywords matched
illegal immigration immigration illegal immigrants