Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act Of 2007--Motion To Proceed

Floor Speech

COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM ACT OF 2007--MOTION TO PROCEED -- (Senate - May 21, 2007)

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Mr. SALAZAR. Madam President, let me first begin by making some acknowledgments as we move forward on this debate on immigration reform for our country.

First, to the majority leader, Senator Reid, for having kept the feet to the fire in this Chamber so that we finally will have an opportunity to move on to one of the most important national security issues that our Nation faces today. I appreciate his efforts and his leadership to help lead our country in a way where we deal effectively with this very difficult and contentious issue of immigration reform.

I also thank the President of the United States, President Bush, and his Cabinet Secretaries Chertoff and Gutierrez for the work they have done now over the last 3 months as we have tried to put together a comprehensive immigration reform proposal that will work for our country.

I thank my colleagues in the Senate, both Republicans and Democrats, who have come together in good faith to try to deal with this very important issue. I know we have a long week ahead of us as we move forward with the immigration debate on the reform proposal in the Senate. I am confident at the end of the day the national security of this country will require us to move forward with passage of legislation that will bring our Nation into the 21st-century reality of the immigration challenges that we face.

As I approach this debate and I have worked on this legislation over the last 4 years--I am mindful of several things: First, that this is not a new debate; this is a debate where last year, for 1 month, we spent 1 month of the time of the Senate on this floor dealing with the very same issues that we are going to deal with again.

So for those on the other side who might say this is coming upon us too fast, I will simply remind them of two things: First, we spent an entire month dealing with immigration reform last year, and we were able to get a bipartisan consensus to vote a bill out of the Senate last year. And, secondly, we were given very ample warning by Senator Reid when he said to all of us that this was an important issue that we would be working on in the last timeframe remaining before the Memorial Day break.

So here we are now. The time has arrived. We must not let our country down. We must move forward and deal with immigration reform in a way that makes the most sense.

Now, as I approached this issue, I asked myself the following question: What is the aim? What is the aim?

Well, the aim is about the national security of the United States. How is it that we are going to provide a greater amount of security to the United States of America? In my view, the bipartisan legislation that has been put together is a tough law-and-order bill and a real bill, a realistic bill that provides realistic solutions.

It is not a bill that is liked by those who want essentially not to have any progress on immigration reform because they would rather the debate go on not 2 years, not 5 years, but 10 or 20 years. It is not about satisfying them. This issue, from our point of view, is making sure the national objectives are objectives that we are able to address.

Let me talk to you to let you know what it is that is on my mind. First, we need to secure our borders. As a nation, we have a sovereign right to make sure our borders are secure. As a nation that is very concerned--rightfully so--about the threat of terrorism, it is important we know who it is that is coming in and leaving our country. We need to know our borders are, in fact, secure.

Second, we need to know the laws within our country are being enforced. For far too long on the issue of immigration, our enforcement mechanisms have looked the other way. That has allowed a system of lawlessness and illegality to continue. We need to have a system of laws that will, in fact, be enforced. That honors a fundamental value of our Nation, which is that we are a nation of laws. For us simply to look the other way is not the American way. This bill will accomplish that.

Third, we need to secure the future of America's economic realities and challenges. We do that with a process that will penalize those who are here illegally. We will have them pay fines that will put them at the back of the line, that will require them to learn English and to remain crime free. Then if they survive a purgatory of, on average, 11 years, at that point in time they would be eligible for a green card. So for those on the other side who might say this is an issue of amnesty, they are wrong. When you have to march through that kind of pain and pay the fine and do the time for having violated the law, it is far from anything that anyone ought to be labeling as amnesty.

Let me spend a few minutes talking about each of the components; first, securing America's borders. It is true that there are about half a million, maybe 600,000 people who come across our borders illegally every year. What we have done in the legislation we crafted together is we have required that there be a set of triggers that have to be met with respect to securing our borders. We will require that there be 18,000 new Border Patrol officers helping us secure our borders. We will require 370 miles of fencing to make sure that in those areas that are vulnerable on our border, those areas are secure. We will require 200 miles of vehicle barriers in other places to make sure that that border is secure both on the south end as well as the northern. We will require 70 ground-based radar and camera towers so we can keep watch on the entire border. We will require seven UAVs, unmanned aerial vehicles, to make sure we know what is happening across our borders, and we will require new checkpoints for ports of entry.

When this legislation is introduced, passed, and when this legislation gets implemented, as it will be, one thing we can tell the American people is we will have a secure border. Securing our borders is not enough, because the other aim has to be enforcing our laws within the interior of the country. Some people say it is all of the illegals across the southern border that has led to the current reality of 12 million undocumented workers. The fact is, many of the people who are undocumented workers entered this country through legal means. They simply overstayed their visas. Time and time again, it is estimated that probably more than one-third of those who are here illegally actually came into this country legally. We need to create a system that will make sure that at the end of the day, we are enforcing our laws against those who are here illegally.

How have we done that? We have done that in a variety of ways in this legislation. We increase the detention capacity to 27,500 beds daily. We add 1,000 new I.C.E. investigative personnel. We add 2,500 Customs and border protection workers. We require reimbursement to State and local communities that detain criminal aliens. We create a new employer verification system. We require 1,000 new worksite compliance personnel. I could go on and on with respect to how this legislation will create interior enforcement on immigration that will be effective.

Finally, the third thing this legislation does is secure America's economic future. It secures America's economic future through the adoption of a program which Senator Craig and Senator Feinstein and 67 of us have cosponsored, the AgJOBS Program, because we know that across America our farmers and ranchers are suffering because they have not had the labor they need. We also have included in this legislation the President's new temporary worker program. It is a program that will allow employers to match up with employees on a temporary basis, to create circularity with respect to those workers who will come into this country.

Finally, it will create a realistic solution for America's undocumented workforce, the 12 million or so people who are here. That will be accomplished by requiring them to pay significant penalties and fees. We will make sure that as they move forward in the process, they also go to the back of the line so they don't get any advantage over those who enter the country legally.

We will require them to return home prior to the time they apply for a green card. We will require them to learn English, and we will require them to remain crime free.

Let me conclude by urging my colleagues to vote yes on the motion to proceed. The time is now for us to deal with the immigration reform issue which is so difficult and so contentious. At the end of the day, this bipartisan proposal which we have put on the table will allow us, first, to secure our borders. It will allow us to make sure we are enforcing our laws. Lastly, it will deal in a realistic and humane manner with the economic realities that face our businesses and workers in America today.

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