Securing America's Borders Act

SECURING AMERICA'S BORDERS ACT

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Mr. MARTINEZ. Mr. President, first, I thank the Senator from New Mexico. I thank Senator Kennedy for indulging me for a couple of moments. I know we are supposed to go back and forth, but I appreciate the opportunity to be heard following Senator Domenici because I believe my comments are germane to the comments he made. I thank the Senator from Massachusetts for his courtesy. These will be very brief comments.

Mr. President, I say to Senator Domenici, I love hearing his story because it is the story of America. It is the fabric of America about which he spoke. I was so touched by the way he told it.

Obviously, as the only immigrant in the Senate, I think it is terribly appropriate that I speak at the outset of this very important national debate on this issue in the Senate.

I am reminded as we talk about these issues that there are so many interesting connections. When I came to the Senate as a Senator from the State of Florida, it was such an incredibly proud moment for me and, frankly, for many in the community from which I come--the Cuban-American community--since I was the very first Cuban American to have this distinction and this honor.

I also am probably the first Florida Senator to ever serve in the U.S. Senate who was not born in America. But, Mr. President, the story of America is such that, as I started to look at that history, I found out that the very first Senator from Florida, when Florida became a State--I believe in 1854--was a fellow by the name of Yulee Levy who was actually born in the Middle East. He was a fellow who had come to America as an immigrant and who ended up representing the State of Florida as the very first of two Senators who came, and he, in fact, beat me by a good little margin as the first foreign-born Senator from the State of Florida. But that is the sort of history our country is made of.

This is such a timely and important debate. I am pleased that you would mention our President, who has been very steadfast and very strong on the issue of a comprehensive solution to our immigration problem. I love so much that you began this debate in such a loving way, in such a civil way, and in a way that allows us to think a little bigger and a little higher than the combat of the day and the rhetoric, frankly, which so often gets so heated, which so often gets so beyond the pale of what ought to be. I am proud of the Senate as the Senator begins this debate with such a note of civility.

I believe we recognize first and foremost that our immigration system is broken, that we have to fix it, we have to set about fixing it. The Senator is so right when he speaks about the fact that it is almost too late to fix and we have to act and we must act now. It is important, too, that we focus on a comprehensive solution.

It is obvious that we have to fix the border. All of us want to see the border be secured and protected, to be something other than what we have today.

The resources will be there, we will do it, and it will be a commitment that we make first and foremost for border security. I think all of us, no matter where we come from, appreciate the legality involved in border security, but in addition to that, we have to be careful of the rhetoric. I don't believe we should allow the loudest voices, not necessarily the best voices, to make a definition of what amnesty is and what amnesty should be. I believe we should look to solutions that are rooted in what America is about and our American values.

We cannot ignore the millions who already are here.

We have to give the border its importance, but we have to look beyond that to the fact that there are millions who have been living here and contributing to this Nation, and we look forward to an opportunity to figure a mechanism.

Senator Domenici has put forward a proposal--and there are many others on the table, obviously. The bill out of the Judiciary Committee makes an important contribution there. We need to find a way that we can come to grips with what to do with the millions of people who are living here and who are already here making a contribution.

The Latin community of America, the Hispanic community of America, has been galvanized by this issue like no other. This is a historic moment in our history, and it is a moment we have to treat with great care and great importance how we set the tone of this debate. I am hopeful that as we look to the future, we will come up with solutions. I am very hopeful that we can come together as a Senate. I am very hopeful that the Congress will come together, with the help of the President and others interested in this debate, to come up with solutions which will provide a way forward, which will provide a historic opportunity for the people of America to be one Nation, to be, as our model says, e pluribus unum--``For many, one''--because I do know that the immigrants who come to this Nation do not come to change America, they come to be changed by the miracle that is America.

I know that I, as an immigrant, was changed by America. When I came here, much like Senator Domenici's father, I did not speak the language. You learn the language. You make it your business to become an American. I did not understand this culture. I had no idea as a 15-year-old boy what the country was all about, but I made it my business so that I could make a contribution to it.

So I am hopeful that we can come together to find solutions to these issues. There is nothing easy about this problem, and I know people of good will will come together so we can move forward in a positive way, in an American way.

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