[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 67 (Thursday, May 25, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S5208]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



  (At the request of Mr. Reid, the following statement was ordered to 
be printed in the Record.)

                            VOTE EXPLANATION

 Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I was necessarily absent during 
the vote on final passage of S. 2611, the comprehensive immigration 
reform bill, because I was traveling to Colorado to attend my youngest 
daughter's high school graduation. I want the Record to reflect that 
had I been here, I would have voted in favor of the bill. The 
legislation that passed the Senate will help this country to 
reestablish meaningful control of our borders. It will promote real law 
and order at ports of entry and in the interior, improving employer 
verification mechanisms and establishing a tough but fair path to 
citizenship for qualified immigrants. It rejects the idea that America 
can be the country we wish to be while tolerating a permanent 
underclass, a shadow society, within our midst. It is my hope that the 
most important elements of this comprehensive bill will be retained in 
conference with the House, and will be sent to the President's desk for 
signature.
  Mr. President, I was also necessarily absent during the cloture vote 
on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the 
DC Circuit. I want the Record to reflect that had I been here, I would 
have voted in favor of invoking cloture.

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