[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8336-8337]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           IMMIGRATION REFORM

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, at any given time in our Nation's 
history, lawmakers have been faced with many pressing challenges. Some, 
by their very nature, demand immediate action. Others simply build over 
time, so forcing action on them usually involves some combination of 
both foresight and persuasion.
  The great challenge of our own day, in my view, is figuring out how 
to reform government programs that are growing so big so fast that, 
unless we act, they will eventually consume the entire Federal budget. 
This is an issue I have devoted a lot of time and energy to over the 
last few years and that I had hoped the two parties could resolve in a 
way that would win the support of the public and the markets. As it 
turned out, the President wasn't as interested in that kind of an 
agreement as I was, so last year I reluctantly concluded we wouldn't be 
able to do anything significant about entitlements anytime soon. 
Without Presidential leadership, something such as that is just simply 
impossible. Hopefully, the President will have a change of heart at 
some point on the most important issue of our time.
  None of this means we can't try to do something about any of the 
other big issues we face, and that includes immigration. There may be 
some who think our current immigration system is working, but I haven't 
met them. I haven't met anybody who thinks the current immigration 
system is working. And as an elected leader in my party, it is my view 
that at least we need to try to improve the situation that, as far as I 
can tell, very few people believe is working well either for our own 
citizens or for those around the world who aspire to become Americans.
  Everyone knows the current system is broken. Our borders are not 
secure. Those who come legally often stay illegally, and we don't know 
who or where they are. Our immigration laws last changed almost three 
decades ago, and they failed to take into account the needs of our 
rapidly changing economy. So what we are doing today is initiating a 
debate.
  We are all grateful for the hard work of the so-called Gang of 8, but 
today's vote isn't a final judgment on their product as much as it is a 
recognition of the problem--a national problem--one that needs debate.
  The Gang of 8 has done its work. Now it is time for the Gang of 100 
to do its work--for the entire Senate to have its say on the issue and 
see if we can improve the status quo.
  At the risk of stating the obvious, the bill has serious flaws. I 
will vote to debate it and for the opportunity to amend it, but in the 
days ahead there will need to be major changes to this bill if it is 
going to become law. These include, but are not limited to, the areas 
of border security, government benefits, and taxes.

[[Page 8337]]

  I am going to need more than an assurance from Secretary Napolitano, 
for instance, that the border is secure to feel comfortable about the 
situation down on the border. Too often, recently, we have been 
reminded that as government grows, it becomes less responsible to the 
American people and fails to perform basic functions either through 
incompetence--incompetence--or willful disregard of the wishes of 
Congress. Our continued failure to secure major portions of the border 
not only makes true immigration reform far more difficult, it presents 
an urgent threat to our national security.
  Some have criticized this bill for its cost to taxpayers, and that is 
a fair critique. Those who are here illegally shouldn't have their 
unlawful status rewarded--rewarded--with benefits and tax credits. So 
the bill has some serious flaws, and we need to be serious about trying 
to fix them. The goal should be to make the status quo better, not 
worse, and that is what the next few weeks are about. They are about 
giving the entire Senate, indeed the entire country, an opportunity to 
weigh in on this important debate to make their voices heard and to try 
to improve our immigration policy. What that means, of course, 
obviously, is an open amendment process.
  Let me be clear. Doing nothing about the problem we all acknowledge 
isn't a solution. Doing nothing about the problem is not a solution, it 
is an avoidance strategy. The longer we wait to have this debate, as 
difficult as it is, the harder it will be to solve the problem.
  We tried to do something 6 years ago and didn't succeed. We may not 
succeed this time either, but attempting to solve tough problems in a 
serious and deliberate manner is precisely what the Senate at its best 
should be doing, and that is what we are going to try to do in this 
debate.

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