Immigration Reform

IMMIGRATION REFORM

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I am glad we are returning to the immigration bill, as Senator Frist has alluded. I am concerned, as he is, there will be so many amendments offered we may not be able to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion soon.

We tried to get a limitation on amendments on the Democratic side and were unsuccessful and decided, finally, in desperation really, to go forward and to have amendments offered on the floor in the hopes that Members who offer them would accept reasonable limitations on their debate time.

It was unusual that when we debated health insurance for small businesses last week, the Republican majority used a procedure called ``filling the tree,'' and then, of course, the cloture motion to cut off amendments, to limit amendments. When it comes to immigration, there has been no effort by the majority to do that. So we are going to face quite a few amendments, and I hope we can handle them in a reasonable and expeditious way.

This is an important bill. Comprehensive immigration reform is necessary in America. Our system is broken, badly broken. It does not protect America as it should, and it is not fair to people who have come to this country. We have to find a reasonable way to come up with comprehensive, tough but fair law when it comes to the issue of immigration.

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