Speech #1100067556

On the other side of the aisle we have heard people stand up and try to use every procedural obstacle they can to kill the bill. They want to kill the bill. What this Chamber ought to be about is trying to find solutions to those huge problems that face our country. whatever those problems may be. including the issue of immigration. They have said this process is somehow unfair. Well. when I look at how much time this Chamber has spent dealing with the issue of immigration. I think there has been ample time for people to talk about and debate this Issue over the last 2 years. Since 9/11since 9/11the Senate has had 36 hearings on the issue of immigration36 hearings. Since 9/11. there have been 6 days of committee action with respect to immigration. Since then. there have been 59 committee amendments on immigration. Since then. there have been 21 days of Senate debate21 days of Senate debate on immigration. and 92 Senate floor amendments92 Senate floor amendments. So for those who want to use procedure to kill this bill. they are wrong in making the case that they have not been heard. There has been ample time and opportunity to hear their arguments. and that has gone on time and time again. It is time we in the Senate get down to business and fix the problem of immigration for our country. Secondly. this is a good bill. It may not be a perfect bill. but we cant let the perfect be the enemy of the good. This bill toughens border security. It does it by making sure that the $4.4 billion is there for border security. 370 miles of fencing. 300 miles of vehicle barriers. 20.000 Border Patrol agents. and it goes on. It doubles employer sanctions to make sure we can enforce our laws here in our country through a variety of different means. and it also makes sure that we develop a realistic and tough solution to the 12 million undocumented workers who are here in America. Those who are part of a "round them up and deport them" crowd are being unrealistic because of the costs involved and the difficulty in ultimately fixing the problem we have. So we have come up with the right kind of solution that punishes them. fines them. puts them to the back of the line. and allows them to come out of the shadows of this society and into the sunlight. Finally. we cant forget the human values at stake in this debate on immigration. In this picture we see Army SPC Alex Jimenez. He was deployed for a second tour in Iraq. He has been missing in Iraq since May 12. We have found some other of his personal belongings. But as he is in Iraq missing in action. his wife was being questioned by ICE in our country. in America. because her immigration status was undocumented. Now. is that the American way? Is that the American way. to have one of our soldiers missing in action in Iraq. with his wife concerned about her immigration status here in the United States of America? What this demonstrates to me is we have a system of chaos and disorder here in America. We need to fix the problem.