Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act Of 2007

Floor Speech

COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM ACT OF 2007 -- (Senate - June 06, 2007)

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Mr. SCHUMER. Thank you, Madam President.

First, I salute my colleague from Massachusetts for his undaunted, courageous, and effective leadership on this issue, which is one of the most difficult issues we face. I think he has the respect of everybody in this body for that--the Senator from Massachusetts does--whether they agree or disagree with the bill.

Now, I rise in opposition to the Cornyn amendment and in support of the Kennedy alternative amendment No. 1333.

There certainly are attractive parts of the Cornyn amendment, but the good parts of the amendment are buried in complicated language that strikes at the heart of the comprehensive immigration bill many of us are working hard to pass. At a minimum, my colleague's amendment would have the effect of stripping the path to citizenship, one of the mainstays of the compromise--one of the two mainstays of the compromise--out of the bill altogether. This body has already rejected that approach outright. It ought not do it now by stealth. It is a Trojan horse--nothing short of an attempt to kill the whole bill in the guise of tough enforcement.

My colleagues know when it comes to tough enforcement, whether it is on immigrants, citizens, or anyone else, I don't yield to anybody. I am a tough-on-crime guy. I come from an area that was ravaged by crime, and the works of the Federal Government, State government, and city government helped make the communities I represent much safer.

What we do in the Kennedy amendment is keep the tough enforcement without killing the bill. Let me repeat that. What we do in this amendment is keep the tough enforcement--it is all there--but we don't kill the bill. We don't eliminate the path to citizenship which is, of course, what the Cornyn amendment does and may well be intended to do.

If we are serious about passing the best possible bill and passing a bill that makes good sense, we should support the Kennedy amendment and not throw out the baby with the bathwater. We all want a bill that is tough on people who have broken the law, and we all want a bill that keeps people who should not be let into the United States in the first place from coming here.

Senator Kennedy's amendment is both tough and smart. It changes the law to prevent the worst criminals from getting into the country and kicks out people who shouldn't be here, and it picks out the best parts of the Cornyn amendment and leaves out the worst.

Like Senator Cornyn's amendment, Senator Kennedy's amendment says any new immigrant who has participated in a criminal gang in any way, shape, or form can't come live in the United States, period. It doesn't wait for a felony conviction or anything else. If you are in a gang, you can't come in, and you can't become a citizen. Any immigrant in the United States who has been a member of a gang can be deported. That is how it should be. Also, Senator Kennedy's amendment cracks down on gang members who violate our gun laws.

Under Senator Kennedy's amendment, aliens who have committed the horrible crimes of domestic violence--stalking, child abuse, child neglect, or child abandonment, and who have been sent to jail for a year--are barred from moving to the country or from attempting to naturalize as citizens. The amendment provides that sex offenders who don't register can't immigrate or come work here, and convicted sex offenders who don't register get deported.

The amendment would keep drunk drivers from immigrating to the United States. Just one felony conviction for drunk driving and you are out. People who try to sneak into the country, illegally cross the border, or lie to immigration agents will face steep fines and jail time, as the bill provides, as this body ratified last week.

The amendment has tough penalties for repeat offenders. An alien who tries to enter the country after being convicted of a serious penalty can face up to 20 years in jail under the amendment.

So this is one tough amendment. But, again, it doesn't seek by stealth, as the Cornyn amendment does, to eliminate the bill altogether. Some of the things in this amendment are exactly like the language in Senator Cornyn's amendment. Senator Kennedy's amendment takes the best of the Cornyn amendment and leaves out the parts that will gut or decapitate the bill. A vote for the Kennedy alternative is a vote for tough enforcement but also smart policy.

Madam President, I yield back the remaining time to my colleague and friend from Massachusetts.

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