Secure Fence Act of 2006--Motion to Proceed

SECURE FENCE ACT OF 2006--MOTION TO PROCEED -- (Senate - September 20, 2006)

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Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I am pleased to follow the distinguished Senator from California and the distinguished chairman from Idaho. They make a compelling case. I represent an agricultural State in the great State of Georgia. I understand the difficulties they have outlined. They have also given me a couple of points to follow on to demonstrate how important it is that this Senate, in fact, embrace comprehensive reform but do it in a two-step process where we ensure our borders.

The distinguished Senator from California made the following statement: The reason we have so much illegal immigration today is because Americans don't do the jobs or won't do the jobs. I submit that is partially right.

The reason we have so much illegal immigration today is because it is easier to get into the United States illegally than it is legally. At a time of war on terror, that is a huge problem. We owe it to ourselves to fix our immigration system in a tandem, in-step process that guarantees security and then reforms immigration to meet the demands of American business, American agriculture, and American industry.

We do not find anyone trying to break out of the United States of America. They are all trying to break in, for a very good reason. This is the land of hope, opportunity, and promise. We have to return to the day where the way to come to this country is legally and not illegally. The best way to do that is to make illegal immigration into this country untenable. The way to do that is go from making promises to actually causing reality to take place on our border.

I support the motion to proceed on this House bill, H.R. 6061. I support Senator SESSION's amendment to the original bill in the Senate to put up a barrier. I support authorizing them. But I remind my colleagues in this body that we do two things that start with ``a'': we authorize and appropriate. An authorization is a promise, and an appropriation is a commitment. It is time in terms of securing our borders that this Senate and the body across the hall made a commitment and made border security a reality.

I commend Chairman JUDD GREGG on the tremendous work he has done. Chairman Gregg is precisely correct. We are making progress toward securing the border. However, we have not closed the deal. We have not finished the appropriation. We have not gone from the authorization commitment that it will take to do so. Until we do, we can never have a meaningful immigration reform program.

I suggested, Senator Cornyn has suggested, Senator Sessions has suggested, and Senator Feinstein just made the statement that this is truly a national emergency. If it is, it is truly a time for an emergency supplemental from the President of the United States to fund those things we have all agreed it takes to secure our border.

For the sake of clarity, I will go through those for a second: 6,000 more Border Patrol agents, which, by the way, can be accomplished and trained in 24 months; barriers along the border in those geological and geographic areas that demand barriers, as in southern California years ago. We know how much that cost. That can be accomplished in 24 months. We need the ``eyes in the sky'' referenced in H. Res. 6061, the seamless ``eyes in the sky'' so our manpower can be multiplied tremendously because we have unmanned aerial vehicles patrolling our border, all 2,000 miles of it, night and day. We need to fund the judicial and prosecuting authority along our border to the southwest to see to it that when we make a case, we prosecute. Lastly, we need to build the detention facilities that end the practice of catch and release.

The beauty of going ahead and making the commitment to do it is, immediately upon doing so, those who are here illegally will comply with whatever program we come up with because they will know they can no longer go home. When the border is secure, it works both ways. We can do that. I have not met an American citizen yet in this debate which has been raging for the better part of the last 5 months in the Congress of the United States who wouldn't consider granting legal status to someone who is here illegally if they have cleared the terrorist watch list, if they have demonstrated they have a job, but they don't want to do it until they are sure our border is secure.

History is a great teacher. Twenty years ago, Alan Simpson, from Wyoming, was the author of the American immigration reform bill. The American people were clamoring to do something about the 3 million undocumented and illegal workers who were in America in 1986. People along our borders were clamoring for border security. We passed the Simpson bill. It promised border security. It granted amnesty to those 3 million.

The reality was, we delivered on the amnesty. We looked the other way on border security. And today, we have a 12 million-illegal-aliens problem. If we do a wink and a nod to border security now and reform immigration to attract more, all we will do 20 years from now is have an untenable number of 20, 25, or 30 million.

So H.R. 6061 sends a great message. I might add, the reason it got 96 votes with no dissenting votes on a motion to proceed today, most Members of the Senate have gone home. Most have talked the last 5 months to their constituents. Most know the American people want the border secure. It is a good political vote to authorize those barriers, those fences, and this appropriations. However, it is ultimately our responsibility to see to it that we authorize and appropriate border security and do it in tandem with a reformed immigration program.

By the way, I am always amused by how everyone said we have to get this new reform program in place and don't make the barrier be a trigger for it. That won't work. The truth is, it takes just as long to get the reform program workable as it does to perform those items I just delineated to secure the border. In fact, the verifiable, nonforgeable, biometric ID that we need, we know we can do it in 18 months and have implemented in 24 months. That happens to be exactly the same period of time it takes to get the job done on the border.

It is time we start parsing on the edges. It is time we stop making this a chicken-or-egg proposition. It is not a chicken-or-egg proposition. Reform of immigration can only take place after we have secured the border. The work it takes to secure the border is exactly the time period it takes to prepare for the new situation of legal immigration.

We are close to a great opportunity to respond to the American people and do what is right. I commend my colleagues who come to the Senate and support 6061. It will send a great signal. But it is only a promise. We need to deliver a reality.

I ask unanimous consent that this letter to me from Richard A. Smith be printed in the RECORD.

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:

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Mr. ISAKSON. I will not read all of it, but this is an American citizen who wrote this letter today which I think illustrates the critical need for securing our border and ensuring it is done before we open the gates.

More than a full year has passed and still not a shred of evidence that the House or the Senate fully appreciate the concern this country has over illegal immigration. The impression is that government has completely failed its citizens on this pressing issue.

The United States of America is being invaded by a foreign country without firing a single shot and our country's elected officials are apparently incapable of coming to an agreement or a solution. I could not be more disgusted with the Congress over this issue. You and your colleagues are urged to act on this pressing issue.

I don't know how many letters have been written that contain thoughts almost identical to those of Richard Smith, but there have been lots of them. They are by far the preponderance of the communications to this Congress and this Senate.

Let's get H.R. 6061 up for a vote. Let's pass it. Let's make another promise toward border security. But let's come back in a timely fashion. Let's secure our borders and make the commitment and the investment that will take place. Let's reform our immigration process so the way to come to America in the future is the right way, not the easy way because we looked the other way.

Anders Bengsten was the father of my grandfather, whose name was also Anders Bengsten. He was a potato farmer in Sweden. When the famine hit in 1903, he emigrated to the United States of America. In Scandinavia, you don't keep the last name you had there; you take your father's first name, Isak, and add to it ``son.'' That is why most Scandinavians are Isakson, Ericson, Johnson, and Olson. He came to America and became Anders Isakson. He fled because of the potato famine. He landed on Ellis Island. He came legally. I have gone to Sweden and gotten the embarkation and legal papers. I have them at home.

My father was born in 1916, while Anders was still here legally but as an immigrant. My father is an American citizen today because of birthright citizenship. I am a citizen today because Anders Isakson bore that son in 1916. The proudest thing I have on my wall in my den at home is the May 3, 1926, documents that made Anders Isakson a U.S. citizen when he completed his process, 23 years after coming here legally as an immigrant, to become a citizen of the United States of America. There is not a person in this room who respects immigration and the right to come to America and the promise of Ellis Island more than I do. I am a living testimony to its promise.

It is time we return to a pathway to citizenship that is legal. It is time we stop looking the other way and letting people come to America the easy way and the soft way, and say to those who are learning our language, studying our history, those who are pledging allegiance to our country and disavowing their previous allegiance, those who are coming the right way ought to be the stars in the crown of American immigration. It is time we secure our border. It is time we reformed our immigration so the numbers coming reflect the demands of our economy. It is time we stop making promises. It is time we start delivering. America is too important. This issue is too critical to the American people.

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

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