Department Of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2008

Floor Speech

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008 -- (Senate - July 26, 2007)

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I wish to express my gratitude to Senator Graham for his strong leadership on this issue. I know Senator Pryor, on the other side of the aisle, is the principal Democratic cosponsor.

I concur with what Senator Graham said. The necessity for this particular amendment is occasioned by the neglect of the Federal Government over the last 20 years at meeting its commitment to do whatever is necessary to keep the American people safe.

This has become, of course, a national focus in a post-9/11 world, when we have to know who is coming across our borders and what their intentions are. We cannot any longer assume people are coming across for benign reasons or are simply economic migrants because we know the same broken borders that allow a person to come across who wants to work in the United States can be exploited by human smugglers or drug traffickers and potentially even those who want to come here and commit acts of terrorism in the United States.

Yesterday, I made a part of the Congressional Record, by unanimous consent, the first of a four-part article written in the San Antonio Express News, documenting the movement of what are called special interest aliens; that is, individuals who are coming to America, from countries where terrorism is flourishing, through our broken southern border.

The particular story that is documented talks about a young Iraqi who traveled from Damascus, Syria, to Moscow, to Havana and then to Guatemala and then up through the southern border, our southern border with Mexico, into the United States. Thank goodness this individual did not appear to be committed to a life of terrorism, but it demonstrates the kind of vulnerability we have in this country, and it is important we do everything possible to protect it.

I am pleased with the majority leader's agreement to now allow us to include the use of these funds for interior enforcement because we know 45 percent of the illegal immigration in this country occurs not from people who violate the border but people who enter legally, then overstay and then go underground. So I am grateful to the majority leader and am pleased to support this amendment.

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