[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 8958-8959]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM ACT OF 2006--Continued

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I will be closing shortly, but I do want to 
comment briefly on the immigration bill today. I want to make a few 
remarks on where we are and then where we will be going.
  Mr. President, we began debate on the comprehensive immigration 
reform before the Easter recess. The majority was at that time set to 
strengthen the underlying bill by having debate and amendment on the 
underlying bill to be able to toughen the border security aspect, but 
at the 11th hour, the other side said: No, we are not going to allow 
that open debate and amendment process. So what had come to the floor 
under the leadership of Chairman Specter was a bipartisan bill that did 
need continued work, and that bipartisan effort was scuttled for a 
period of time.
  The Democratic leader and I agreed to a process whereby we could 
bring that bill back to the floor, which was the beginning of last 
week, where we, in a bipartisan way, would have that opportunity to 
offer amendments and attempt to improve or adjust or modify that bill. 
That is the process we are in the middle of right now.
  I am pleased where we are today, but as I said 2 weeks ago or 3 weeks 
ago, we do need to complete this bill before the Memorial Day recess. 
Resuming consideration in the early part of last week, we have made 
real progress. And I do not know the exact number of amendments, but we 
have had amendments every day come to the floor for those up-or-down 
votes from both the Republican and the Democratic side of the aisle.
  We allowed discussion and debate, and I think the country's 
understanding of this legislation, which is complex, has improved over 
the course of the several weeks we have had it on the floor. We are all 
looking closer at what is in the underlying bill, with the proposing of 
amendments to modify that, and having good debate--Democrat and 
Republican--on the issue.
  The more time we spend with it, the more time we come to understand 
there are some very good things about the bill, things that still need 
some correction. And we will have the opportunity to do that, with the 
cloture motion filed tonight, over the course of voting in the morning, 
tomorrow afternoon, Wednesday over the course of the day, and once 
cloture is in effect, still have germane amendments come to the floor. 
So that process needs to continue. What it will do is allow us to 
complete that bill before Memorial Day.
  We have had a number of amendments that have been interesting to 
watch as we have gone forward. Mr. Sessions, the Senator from Alabama, 
had an amendment early on to strengthen our southern border, to build 
those 370 miles of triple-layered fence, and 500 miles of vehicle 
barriers at strategic locations--a clear-cut improvement on the bill, 
strengthening

[[Page 8959]]

the bill along the border consistent with our first priority; that is, 
to secure that border.
  The Senate also approved the amendment by Senators Kyl, Graham, 
Cornyn, and Allen to close a loophole in the bill that would allow 
criminal aliens to obtain legal status. Once people looked at that, 
they said that is only common sense. Again, it became overwhelmingly 
supported in a bipartisan way--again, an important demonstration of why 
it was important to have open debate and amendment. That amendment 
clarifies that any illegal alien who is ineligible for a visa or who 
has been convicted of a felony or three misdemeanors is ineligible for 
a green card--again, just common sense.
  Another commonsense issue of national cohesion that really hits at 
the heart of what makes this country great was when the Senate voted in 
favor of an amendment by Senator Inhofe to require that English be 
declared our national language of the United States. As people listened 
to that and digested what it meant, people said: Well, of course 
English is a necessary tool for every aspiring American to be 
successful and to join the mainstream of American society.
  That is just an example of a few of the amendments. Again, we have 
considered a number of amendments, and we will consider a number more 
as we go forward.
  It was last October when I said we would start with border security 
and we would build out a comprehensive approach to this very 
challenging problem of thousands--indeed, hundreds of thousands--of 
people coming across our borders illegally and millions working in this 
country illegally and many taking advantage of our social services 
illegally in this country. So we have made real progress--again 
starting in October--and we will complete that process by the Memorial 
Day recess, with the action I took tonight.
  Mr. President, given our policy meetings tomorrow afternoon, I now 
ask unanimous consent that the filing deadline under rule XXII be 
extended until 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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