[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 121 (Monday, September 25, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1819]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 IMMIGRATON LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 2006

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. JIM KOLBE

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 21, 2006

  Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today for the second consecutive week 
to remind the House that the time has passed for half measures on 
immigration reform.
  None of the bills we debate today will secure our border unless they 
are coupled with a more comprehensive approach. Some of them are good 
bills and should be part of wider legislation to secure the border and 
make our immigration system work. But on their own, these proposals 
fall short because they only look at the enforcement side of the 
equation. Put them together with the bill we passed last week, add the 
enforcement-only package we passed in December, and throw in any other 
enforcement measures that you like and I promise you that all of them, 
collectively, won't win the fight against illegal immigration.
  Without a total fix--one that gets at the root of the problem--we 
will continue to see people finding a way to get into the United States 
in pursuit of jobs and a better way of life. Fences won't stop them. 
And stopgap measures by this body will not stop them.
  The Senate majority leader has said that there isn't even time to 
take up all these half-measures in the other chamber; it is highly 
doubtful that any of these will become law.
  Mr. Speaker, let us put away these half measures and go to conference 
with the Senate on the bill this chamber passed--H.R. 4437--and the 
bill the Senate passed--S. 2611. We need a comprehensive fix to the 
problem and that means dealing with all parts of it, not just criminal 
aliens and the end of ``catch and release.'' Those are all part of the 
solution, but on their own, they fall short. Without a guest worker 
program and a recognition of the 12 million undocumented immigrants 
living in our midst, we will only exacerbate the problem.
  So what are we really debating here? Nothing. We've sent a bill to 
the Senate, and they've sent a bill back to us. The time for playing 
games is past. The American people want action--they want a solution 
that works.
  Let's negotiate with the Senate and find a comprehensive solution 
that will secure our borders once and for all. Let us reject these 
piecemeal bills and do what's right for the American people; let us go 
to conference with the Senate on H.R. 4437 and S. 2611.

                          ____________________