Cornyn Chairs Hearings on Comprehensive Immigration Reform and Economic Issues
CORNYN CHAIRS HEARING ON COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
Prior to hearing, announces enforcement provisions of comprehensive immigration reform bill
Thursday, May 26, 2005
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Chairman of the Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship subcommittee, chaired a hearing on Thursday, the fifth in an ongoing series, on how comprehensive immigration reform will serve the interests of the economy. Cornyn has co-chaired four previous hearings this year to examine ways of strengthening our nation's border and homeland security, and implementing comprehensive reform of our broken immigration system.
Prior to the hearing, Cornyn and Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) announced the enforcement provisions of their upcoming comprehensive immigration reform legislation. The bill they plan to introduce is tentatively titled the Comprehensive Enforcement and Immigration Reform Act of 2005.
"We need stronger enforcement, but enforcement alone will not get the job done," Cornyn said at the hearing. "Nor will our immigration system be fixed merely by throwing money at the problem. Our laws must be reformed as well as enforced."
Cornyn added: "Any reform proposal must serve both our national security and our national economy. It must be both capable of securing our country and compatible with growing our economy. Our current broken system provides badly needed sources of labor, but through illegal channels - posing a substantial and unacceptable risk to our national security. Yet simply closing our borders would secure our nation only by weakening our economy. Any comprehensive solution must address both concerns."
The witnesses who testified at the hearing included: Deputy Secretary Department of Labor Steven J. Law; Tom Donahue of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Dan Griswold of CATO Institute; and Douglas Massey of Princeton.
The hearing on immigration and the economy was part of a second phase on comprehensive reform, following three hearings this spring that focused on enforcement and security, including: the need for better training for border inspectors; ensuring document security and integrity; finding and closing gaps in the visa system; interior enforcement, including detention and deportation; border security between authorized ports of entry; and the use of technology to protect the borders.
"America is a welcoming nation. The hard work and strength of our immigrants have made our nation prosperous. And many immigrants and sons and daughters of immigrants have joined the military to help safeguard the liberty of America, advance scientific discoveries, and otherwise lead our nation at various times," Cornyn said. "Nevertheless, we must craft a fair and consistent system that reforms our nation's immigration laws without harming the economic security of Americans."
Cornyn and Kyl recently announced their intentions to introduce legislation that will dramatically strengthen enforcement, bolster border security, and comprehensively reform our immigration laws. They plan to introduce the comprehensive legislation following a thorough review of immigration laws, which includes this series of hearings. As senators from the states of Texas and Arizona, Cornyn and Kyl represent approximately 85 percent of the nation's southern border.
Among the goals of the hearings are to determine which challenges facing our broken immigration system can be solved with more resources or additional legal tools, and which require more fundamental and comprehensive reforms to current immigration law and other domestic policies.
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http://cornyn.senate.gov/releases.cfm