Secure Fence Act of 2006 - Resumed
SECURE FENCE ACT OF 2006--Resumed -- (Senate - September 29, 2006)
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. REED. Mr. President, for an immigration measure to be effective, two aspects are necessary. One aspect is enforcement and the other is addressing the status of millions of undocumented immigrants who are living in the United States.
The Senate spent several weeks earlier this year debating a comprehensive immigration bill which struck an acceptable balance between enforcement and legalization. We passed that bill but House and Senate Republicans have been unable, despite months of negotiations, to come up with a final bill. This is irresponsible at best.
The secure fence bill only addresses enforcement but worse, it only addresses a small part of enforcement. This bill builds a wall. A wall that will cost as much as $9 billion. And a wall that will be ineffective. As Governor Napolitano of Arizona said, ``You show me a 50-foot wall and I'll show you a 51-foot ladder at the border. That's the way the border works.''
Apprehending individuals illegally crossing the border only partially solves the problem. First, half of the undocumented immigrants in this country came here legally and then overstayed their visas. A fence will not solve that problem.
Second, the reason so many try to enter this country is the search for jobs. We must work to cut off the supply of jobs by making it too costly for employers to hire the undocumented. There are laws on the books that do this, but these laws have rarely been enforced by this administration.
Furthermore, no immigration law that we pass will be effective if we do not negotiate and sign bilateral agreements with other countries on numerous issues including taking back aliens removed from the United States, document forgery, smuggling, human trafficking, and gang membership.
Immigration is one of the most important issues Congress has to address. But we did address it in March. It was thorough and thoughtful yet tough, and it is the conference report for that bill that we should be passing tonight, instead of this ineffective enforcement bill.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
http://thomas.loc.gov