[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 10642]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              IMMIGRATION

  Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I rise to comment on the events of the past 
week. We have received word that the leading terrorist in Iraq, Abu 
Musab al-Zarqawi, who was the mastermind of countless brutal attacks 
and taking lives of members of the U.S. Armed Forces and thousands of 
innocent Iraqis, was killed. This has been a long time coming. I 
commend those who worked tirelessly over the past year to finally see 
the fruits of their labors. Their dedication has saved countless lives. 
But that does not mean the war on terror is over. We still have a lot 
of work to do. We know the terrorists never give up. The greatest 
weapon they have is, of course, fear.
  Last weekend, we also heard of a terrorist plot uncovered in Canada. 
Fortunately, those behind that plot were arrested before they could 
carry out their plans to murder the Canadian Prime Minister.
  We are getting better at our intelligence. We are stopping these 
attacks. Of course, this will continue to be our mission, and for the 
people who are in the business of short-circuiting these plots, their 
job may never end. Terrorists will stop at nothing to incite fear in 
the minds and hearts of Americans and free-loving people all over the 
world.
  We will fight as long as it takes to defeat them. Part of that fight 
is ensuring our security at home. My State of Montana borders Canada. 
In our part of the country, I like to say there is a lot of dirt 
between light bulbs. That makes it difficult to effectively patrol the 
border between my State and our friends to the north. Next time, will 
terrorists enter somewhere along that 550-mile border that my State 
shares with Canada? What makes it even more difficult is we are used to 
going back and forth between my State and Canada. We have farmers who 
farm on both sides of the border. They own farms in Canada, and they 
also own farms in Montana. Of course, we like the freedom of that 
movement.
  The arrests last weekend have proven that illegal activity happens on 
our northern border, just like the problems we have on our southern 
border. I have said many times during the discussion of the immigration 
bill that we must know who is coming in this country and what for, and 
we also cannot have any credibility with the American people until we 
secure the border.
  The Senate recently passed a massive immigration bill. There were a 
number of border security measures in the legislation--recommendations 
for a security fence, using the National Guard as backup and technical 
support, and other features. There were also provisions to enhance the 
security of our northern border, although I think even those could be 
stronger.
  Most notably, however, this legislation did something else with which 
the American people do not agree: this legislation gave a pathway to 
citizenship for millions of illegal aliens. For this reason, I simply 
could not support the bill. Not only is it bad policy, but it sends the 
message that entering this country illegally is somehow OK.
  Folks in my State have said: No amnesty for illegal aliens. They have 
been saying that until they are blue in the face. They feel strongly 
about it, so strongly that I received bricks in the mail with big 
letters on them: Secure the border and build the wall. I am not a big 
fan of walls. They have never had a history of success. But 
nonetheless, it sends a strong message on the things we should be 
doing.
  It is a plain fact that illegal activity happens every day on our 
borders. We are in a great project in the State of Montana called the 
Montana Meth Project. We are finding out that meth houses have been 
shut down. Law enforcement has done their job in our State. What we are 
finding now is meth coming in from outside our borders. Crystal meth is 
one of the worst fights we have in our State. Other criminal activities 
pose a threat to the safety of local communities and to our national 
security as a whole. I know folks in my State have seen this happen 
firsthand.
  Up on the hi-line, border agents in Havre, MT, have arrested illegal 
immigrants from as many as 35 different countries. Many of these 
illegal immigrants are found hiding on trains as they pass through 
Havre and several other towns on the hi-line of Montana. In February, a 
fugitive thought to be armed and dangerous led the Montana Highway 
Patrol on two high-speed chases near Kalispell, MT, before being 
apprehended. He was trying to escape to Canada. Last October, Border 
Patrol agents spotted a man driving in a stolen pickup toward the 
Canadian border outside of Cut Bank, MT. After a standoff, the man was 
shot by officers acting in self-defense.
  I know my colleagues from States that share international borders, 
northern and southern, have stories like this. They can go on forever. 
We have illegal aliens still flooding into this country through our 
southern border every day and, yes, some through the northern border. 
It is not too much to ask for our law enforcement agencies to find, 
detain, and deport those who have broken the law. It is overwhelming.
  It is amazing to me that we can so diligently pursue terrorists as 
dangerous and as murderous as al-Zarqawi in Iraq and be successful, yet 
we do not meet with the same success here in this country. When it 
comes to our own borders, our own immigration policies, mistakes 
continue to be made both on the ground and here in this Congress.
  More importantly, when we allow illegal aliens to stay, what kind of 
a message does that send to the rest of the world about our immigration 
policy? If you come here illegally, just wait it out. That is the 
message we are sending now. We will give you amnesty eventually. It 
seems that 20 years from now, it will be amnesty once again for even 
more of those who would enter this country illegally. The 1986 
immigration reform act didn't work. Basically, the bill that recently 
passed the Senate--not with my support--almost mirrors the 1986 act. 
What good is history if we don't learn the lesson?
  As the House and Senate come together to conference on this 
legislation, I advise taking into account what the American people are 
telling us. They are telling us what they want, and they are very clear 
with the message. Just as we continue our efforts in Iraq and our fight 
in this war on terrorism abroad, we must also ensure a secure border 
and sound immigration policy at home. There is no way we can skirt the 
issue. It burns in the hearts of everybody in my State. They are very 
clear about the message. You do first things first and second things 
second.
  The first thing we have to do to gain any credibility with the 
American people is to secure the border, knowing what the cost will be 
and knowing the job that is ahead of us.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Colorado.

                          ____________________