Speech #1100082744

President. I come to the floor this morning to speak about amendment No. 2480. the GrahamPryor amendment. Let me first say the legislation Senator GRAHAM and Senator PRYOR have brought to the floor this morning. in terms of an amendment. is essentially the same language and has the same legislative provisions we had in the comprehensive immigration reform package. They are good aspects of that legislation that allow us to move forward with securing and fixing our borders. As we went through the immigration reform debate. we said we had to do three things: First. we needed to enforce and fix our borders. secondly. we needed to enforce our laws within our country. and. thirdly. we needed to figure out a realistic solution to the reality that we have 12 million undocumented workers who are here in this country today. This amendment takes a part of those principal components and addresses it In a very effective way. Indeed. when you look through the language. what it does is it says we will hire 23.000 additional Border Patrol agents. we will have 4 unmanned aerial vehicles and 105 groundbased radar and camera towers. we will have 300 miles of vehicle barriers and 700 miles of fence. we will have a permanent end to the catchandrelease policy and additional funding to enhance employment verification. we will have Increased removal and detention of visa overstays and reimbursement to State and local governments for immigration expenses. So that all is good. It addresses one of the fundamental components of immigration reform. So I am supportive of what we are trying to do here. I do wish to let my good friend and colleague.