[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 18736-18737]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  CAUTION IN POST-9/11 COMMISSION ERA

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I was at that hearing this morning when 
Henry Kissinger made his presentation, and I was extremely pleased that 
it was a bipartisan and balanced presentation. Instead of fingers being 
pointed or accusations being made about what we ought or ought not do 
in a post-9/11 Commission era, what Henry Kissinger said was, caution. 
In a political year that is ripe with political innuendo, be careful 
what you create because you might not like it after the fact, that 
recreating the intelligence community of this country and of this 
government is tremendously important, but it needs to be done well so 
we don't get the wrong results.
  I think all of us recognize the dysfunctional character of our 
intelligence community and the results that it yielded, and why there 
was a 9/11, and why a 9/11 Commission was developed, and why we are 
working now in the Governmental Affairs Committee to try to craft and 
change the character of that intelligence community.
  It was a very positive hearing this morning. I was pleased by the 
bipartisan approach, which will disallow any candidate out there from 
oppor-
tunistically pointing a finger and saying you are or you are not doing 
something in the right manner. It was well presented this morning.


                  Measure Read the First Time--S. 2823

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I understand that S. 2823 is at the desk, 
and I ask for its first reading.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2823) to provide for adjustment of status of 
     certain foreign agricultural workers, to amend the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act to reform the H-2A worker 
     program under that Act, to provide a stable, legal 
     agricultural workforce, to extend basic legal protections and 
     better working conditions to more workers, and for other 
     purposes.

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I ask for its second reading, and in order 
to place the bill on the calendar under provisions of rule XIV, I 
object to further proceedings on this matter.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard. The bill will receive its 
second reading on the next legislative day.
  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I thank you for that process.
  What I have just done will result in placing the Agricultural Job 
Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act--the AgJOBS bill, or S. 2823--
on the calendar for future consideration by this Senate. There is a 
great deal of work that has not been done by the Senate this year. The 
issue of immigration reform, especially that affecting well over 1.5 
million undocumented agricultural workers of our Nation, is, in my 
opinion, a critical issue.
  In a post-9/11 era, what we have said about our country, and what our 
citizens are saying, is pretty straightforward. They are saying control 
the borders, identify those who are within,

[[Page 18737]]

and arrest those who are undocumented or illegal or who might 
perpetrate harm to this Nation.
  I agree with those very fundamental principles that retain the 
character and the integrity of our country. But what we are also 
finding in a post-9/11 era is that our negligence as a country, our 
responsibility as legislators in failing to produce a workable 
immigration policy, has resulted in between 8 million and 12 million 
undocumented foreign nationals in our country. Many of them--frankly, 
most of them--are hard-working human beings who have contributed a 
great deal to our country and to our country's economy.
  In the area of the agricultural economy, that is especially true. In 
the agriculture of Idaho and most of our States in the Nation, 
undocumented workers play a very significant role in the normal 
processing and functioning of agriculture itself, the production of the 
food and fiber that make it to the shelves of the supermarkets and the 
tables of the families across our country. We now attempt policy that 
tightens our borders, but we also need to recognize our immigration 
problems will not be solved by simply wanting to penalize. Instead, we 
need to manage; controlling and shaping a better system; understanding 
the importance of that workforce to the Nation on the one side, and on 
the other side, recognizing the sheer humanitarian character and 
responsibility we have as Senators and as those who form public policy.
  Last year, on the United States-Mexican border, over 300 people died 
trying to make it across the border to identify with a job in this 
country. Many of them died of heat or lack of water in the deserts of 
Arizona and New Mexico near Mexico. That is a tragedy in its own right 
and a crisis in the making. But it is a tragedy that is a result of bad 
law that doesn't function well, and a law that will not function well 
until we adjust it and change it. That is why in working with all the 
interested groups over the last 5 years, Ted Kennedy, Chris Cannon and 
Howard Berman in the House, and I have produced the legislation that is 
at the desk. It has been vetted well. It has the support of a 
tremendous community of interest, from growers and employers on one 
side to agricultural workers on the other side. It has the support of a 
historic, bipartisan, and diverse national coalition. It is a bill that 
should be considered by this Congress. It is a bill that will pass the 
Senate because we now have over 60 cosponsors. It is a bill whose time 
has come, but is it is a bill that possibly will not find time this 
year simply because of the shortness left in this session and the work 
that is necessary to be done?
  I have worked with the leader and will continue to work with the 
leader to see if we can't find that window of opportunity to vote our 
expression on this most important issue, this year, sooner rather than 
later.
  I have chosen this rule XIV process to make the legislation current 
at the desk to start the process to see if we might find that window of 
time in which to debate and vote on what I think is one of America's 
most important issues: immigration reform, controlling our borders, 
identifying undocumented people in this country, doing background 
checks, and the vetting of their character which is necessary to 
determine whether they are here and constructive, or whether they are 
here with a destructive thought in mind, a destructive thought against 
U.S. citizens, as we found on 9/11 a few years ago. Bringing the 
undocumented out of the shadows not only helps these workers who add to 
the economy and pay taxes, but it also would help our homeland 
security.
  Many of us are determined to deal with this issue now. If we don't 
deal with this now, there is no question in my mind that I and others 
will make it a No. 1 issues in the next session of Congress. This is an 
issue that legislators cannot turn their backs on. It is an issue that 
cries out for resolution.
  I believe S. 2823 is a proper solution to a major segment of that 
very large problem in this country.
  I thank you and I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Alexander). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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