[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 15, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6080-S6081]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           IMMIGRATION REFORM

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, it is obvious to most Americans our 
immigration system is broken. There are 12 million undocumented 
immigrants living in the United States today, and hundreds of thousands 
are arriving each year. In America today, unscrupulous employers hire 
undocumented immigrants because they can pay them less than American 
workers and force them to work in conditions that Americans would not 
tolerate. Employers can do this with impunity because our Government 
doesn't enforce immigration laws that prohibit hiring undocumented 
immigrants.
  Immigration is a complicated issue that ignites strong passions. Some 
would rather avoid this issue because it is so sensitive. But Congress 
has an obligation to fix our broken immigration system. We need a 
comprehensive approach, one that is tough but fair. We need, first, to 
improve border security by increasing manpower and deploying new 
technology. We need to enforce the law against employers who are hiring 
millions of undocumented workers. We need a realistic approach to the 
12 million undocumented workers who live and work in our country.
  I commend our majority leader, Senator Reid of Nevada. He is not 
afraid of tackling tough issues, including immigration reform. He knows 
it is an important national priority. Last week, Senator Reid 
introduced immigration reform legislation that the Senate will begin 
debating this week. Senator Reid did a reasonable thing. He said we 
should begin the debate where it ended last year, with the bipartisan 
Kennedy-McCain, Hagel-Martinez bill.
  This bill, sponsored by Republican Senators Chuck Hagel, Mel 
Martinez, Arlen Specter, John McCain, Sam Brownback, and Lindsey 
Graham, and many Democrats, passed the Senate last year on a bipartisan 
vote of 62 to 36.
  Of course, that Hagel-Martinez bill was only the starting point for 
the Senate's debate. Senator Reid has set aside 2 full weeks to 
complete that debate. Members will have ample opportunity to offer 
amendments. This is the right place to start.
  This is not a perfect bill. I voted for it, realizing there were real 
imperfections, but it reflects the culmination of months of work last 
year, including hearings and marathon markups in the Judiciary 
Committee, on which I serve, and over 30 rollcall votes on the floor of 
the Senate.
  The bill is flawed, but it is comprehensive. It includes provisions 
to secure our borders, strengthen enforcement of our immigration laws, 
and addresses undocumented immigrants living in our country.
  I am confident that over the next 2 weeks, through the amendment 
process, we can improve this bill and pass legislation that will be an 
important step in fixing our broken immigration system.
  Unfortunately, there has been a hue and cry from the other side of 
the aisle. Some object to debating this bill. It is ironic, to say the 
least, that those on the other side who don't want to debate bipartisan 
legislation are objecting to a bill written, in large part, by their 
own side of the aisle--a bill that was passed when the Republican side 
of the aisle controlled the Senate last year. It is hard to understand 
how 21 Members of the Senate who voted for this bill last year now 
object to even proceeding to it now as the base bill for our debate. 
They understand, as we do, that this bill is going to change once it 
comes to the floor. If they object to even bringing the measure to the 
floor--the same bill they voted for last year--one has to question 
whether they are committed to comprehensive immigration reform.
  Some on the Republican side argue that backroom negotiations between 
the White House and Republican and Democratic Senators are close to a 
deal and that starting debate on immigration before that deal is 
reached is premature. I don't think that is a legitimate argument. I 
have been in many of these negotiations, and I will say a great amount 
of effort has been expended to move this bill forward. Some parts of it 
are very positive. An agreement between the White House and the Senate 
is a step forward. There are some parts that are very controversial.
  Human nature and political nature are interesting. People will not 
move toward a goal unless they face a deadline. How many people wait 
until the last minute to file their tax returns or wait too long for 
the checkup at the dentist? When we know we are facing a deadline and 
time is running out, we make important decisions. The same will be true 
for the immigration debate. Bringing last year's bill to the floor, 
which passed with an overwhelming bipartisan rollcall vote, as the base 
bill is going to move those negotiators in that room to a conclusion 
more quickly. To leave this open-ended and say that at some time in the 
future we will get back to it is an invitation for talks to break down 
and for the participants to disappear.
  We don't want that to happen. We cannot afford to wait. The Senate's 
calendar is full this year. There are so many things we need to do to 
make sure this congressional session is much more productive than those 
in the past, not the least of which is passing important appropriation 
bills, which now must be accomplished in order to fund the Government. 
We don't want to fall into the same circumstance as the previous 
Republican Congress, when they failed to pass appropriation bills and 
tried to play catchup and failed, leaving it to the new Congress, the 
Democratic Congress--an awesome responsibility--to fund the Government 
for the remainder of this fiscal year.
  There are some who feel it is now or never for immigration. What the 
majority leader has done is to tell the negotiators this is the time to 
wrap things up. This is the time to reach an agreement. This is the 
time to decide who at that table is there in good faith and who is 
there to stop the process. If they reach an agreement, it can be 
considered on the floor of the Senate as an amendment to the bipartisan 
Kennedy-McCain, Hagel-Martinez bill, which is being offered as the 
starting point of this debate. If there is no agreement, these 
differences can be debated and voted on over the next 2 weeks.

[[Page S6081]]

  I understand negotiations continue as I speak. I hope they reach an 
agreement that is comprehensive, tough but fair, and one every Member 
can seriously consider supporting. But these negotiations are no excuse 
for avoiding public debate.
  At some point, you have to move beyond the closed doors of the rooms 
in the Capitol and into the bright lights of the Senate Chamber and let 
Members speak to their wishes and their intentions on this important 
legislation.
  I disagree with some of the ideas being proposed by those on the 
other side of the aisle. I am sure they disagree with some of my 
approaches. I respect their views, and I hope they will look at this as 
a constructive opportunity.
  Should the Senate tomorrow fail to invoke cloture and to move forward 
on the immigration bill, it will be a lost opportunity. If the 21 
Senators who voted for comprehensive immigration reform will not even 
allow us to bring the matter to the floor at this moment, it will be 
difficult to explain. They will have their chance to amend. They will 
have their chance to make changes they think are important. They will 
have their chance to act as Senators considering important measures.

  There has been a lot of criticism of Congress for good reason. When 
we look at the list of issues the American people think are important, 
very seldom do we find those issues being debated on the floor of the 
Senate. We need to change that situation. One of the issues on which 
most Americans agree is that our immigration system cannot be 
sustained. There are too many undocumented workers in this country 
living in fear, being exploited in the workplace, uncertain of their 
future. There are too many still streaming across our borders, borders 
that are too porous. There are ways to deal with those issues and ways 
this bill will address them.
  The Senate can offer, debate, and vote on amendments on all these 
issues. That is how the Senate is supposed to work. Some of my 
colleagues have suggested they will block this debate from taking place 
by filibustering this bipartisan bill which passed over the past year. 
I hope they don't. It reaches the point where we need to be held 
accountable. I hope that point will be this week and next, as Senator 
Reid, the majority leader, has set aside a reasonable amount of time to 
debate it. The American people deserve more than closed-door, backdoor 
negotiations. The time has come for Congress to fix our broken 
immigration system.

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