CNN "Lou Dobbs Tonight" - Transcript

Interview

CNN "Lou Dobbs Tonight" - Transcript

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DOBBS: Lisa, thank you very much -- Lisa Sylvester from Washington.

Senator John Cornyn chaired that Capitol hearing on workplace enforcement about which Lisa just reported. Senator Cornyn says, "We cannot control illegal immigration if we cannot stop illegal employment." Senator John Cornyn joins us tonight from Capitol Hill. Good to have you with us.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: Thanks, Lou.

DOBBS: Senator, how did it go? Your senators, are they responsive to this idea?

CORNYN: Well, I think there was only about an hour debate during the Senate immigration bill on this issue, the worksite verification and sanctions against employers who cheat. And this is the lynch pin. If we don't get this right, then really we're not going to be able to fix our broken immigration system. Because 45 percent of the illegal immigration occurs from people who enter legally but overstay, and they're the ones who we can only catch at the worksite because we can't catch them at the border.

DOBBS: Senator, I want our audience to be able to see what you said in your statement, reading now. "Unfortunately, the Senate has conducted almost no open debate regarding the new employment verification system. Not a single amendment was debated or voted on during the Judiciary Committee mark-up and less than an hour of Senate floor time was devoted to the issue."

How in the world are -- and I should point out to everyone, Senator Cornyn voted against the amnesty bill the Senate passed. But how in the world is anyone to take the U.S. Senate seriously when it pushes through a piece of legislation that is -- should be an embarrassment to everyone associated with it?

CORNYN: Well, that's the very reason why even though the bill has passed out of the Senate over my objection, we, I think, can still try to do our best to educate the American people, as well as members of Congress about what's actually in the bill.

We have the administration coming up with various proposals which they haven't asked for an appropriation for. They haven't been able to hire the people or put into place -- I mean, they said at minimum, it's going to take 18 months even if we had the political will to do these things like border security and worksite verification.

And I think the people of America are asking them, well, why aren't we doing it now? Why are we waiting to pass another bill to do things we already know should be done in order to make our country more secure?

DOBBS: You would think -- I think the American people are well ahead, if I may say, of the U.S. Senate on this issue. And I don't know how many of your colleagues you can bring along. But let me ask you this. If it turns out, as our Andrea Koppel reported, that Dennis Hastert, the speaker of the House, has asked for hearings on illegal immigration and the Senate legislation, at least on the issue, what's your reaction?

CORNYN: Well, I think more hearings are certainly called for. I don't have any problem with that at all. I think the more people learn about what's in this bill, the more they learn about the subject, the better off we'll be in the long run because then we'll be able to pass legislation that reflects America's values and America's interests. And that's what ought to be paramount in our consideration.

DOBBS: Well, you know what I think? If I may offer, Senator, when you said that the more people know, it looks to me like the first people that ought to try to figure out what's in that bill are the U.S. Senate. Don't you agree?

CORNYN: Well, we did our best during the course of two weeks debate. We offered a number of amendments which I think did wake a lot of people up. But with your help and the help of a lot of other people, I'm sure that America will know what's in this, and their senators will hear from them.

DOBBS: Well we're sure going to try to pay attention as best we can. We thank you for your efforts and as you move forward on this issue and as always, good talking with you, Senator John Cornyn.

CORNYN: Thanks, Lou.

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