[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8640-8641]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           IMMIGRATION REFORM

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, last night the Senate advanced a bipartisan 
immigration reform bill that will be good for national security and 
very good for our economy. It will be good for American citizens as 
well as those who aspire to one day become citizens.
  It is truly gratifying to see the momentum behind this commonsense 
reform proposal. Eighty-four Senators voted to adopt the motion to 
proceed to this legislation--a very strong vote. By comparison, the 
Senate failed to advance an immigration reform bill just 6 years ago 
when only 46 Senators voted to end debate on that measure.
  It is a sign of progress that the legislation now before the Senate 
has not been stopped procedurally. I hope we are allowed to proceed on 
this legislation without being blocked by some arcane Senate rule and 
that we can finish this legislation and send it to the House of 
Representatives.
  I applaud the Gang of 8 for their bipartisan proposal. That is how 
the Senate used to work. They worked hard. They have worked through 
hundreds of different proposals. After the Gang of 8 finished their 
work, they took it before the Judiciary Committee. There were over 100 
amendments--many more than 100 amendments. They adopted 46, and some 40 
amendments were Republican amendments that were adopted. Chairman Leahy 
conducted a fair markup, and no one disputes that. So I commend the 
Gang of 8 for allowing the bill to get to the Judiciary Committee, and 
I thank the Judiciary Committee for now giving us this proposal and 
bringing it to the floor, and now Democrats allowing us to proceed on 
this legislation, as well as Republicans.
  Our goal now is to pass the strongest legislation possible, with as 
many votes as possible, while staying true to our principles, then 
await what the House is going to do. The Speaker has said he wants a 
bill that will allow the Democrats to vote. That is good news because 
in the House, for the last two Congresses, there have been very few 
opportunities for the Democrats to vote on substantive legislation.
  The Speaker has said he will only allow legislation to pass over 
there that has a majority of the majority. That means only Republicans. 
If they don't have enough Republican votes, they are not going to bring 
up a bill for a vote. So I am very pleased the Speaker would say that. 
It is important we understand the procedure we have used for 230-plus 
years in this body: We pass something here, they pass something in the 
House, we go to conference and work out our differences.
  So I understand we have a long road before us and more work will be 
necessary to get this bill across the finish line. I truly understand 
that. I know some of my Republican colleagues will support this bill if 
they feel confident what is in the bill adequately addresses the need 
to secure our borders. I agree the legislation focused on border 
security a lot. I think that is important, and I am glad it did.
  Reform that takes significant steps to stop illegal crossings is 
important, and reform that does not take significant steps to stop 
illegal crossings will fail. That is why I so admire what was done by 
the Gang of 8 and the Judiciary Committee in regard to that issue. They 
have done a terrific job on border security.
  We should all also acknowledge the progress the Obama administration 
has already made to secure our borders. Illegal border crossings are 
down 80 percent. That is no small accomplishment. Yesterday I received 
a letter from my colleagues, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee 
Pat Leahy, and the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee Tom 
Carper, detailing the tremendous strides we have made toward a more 
secure border.
  As described by the Wall Street Journal, illegal entries nationwide 
are at a four-decade low. We have less crossings now than we had at any 
time during the last 4 years, and the number of illegal entrants who 
sneak into the country through the southern border and successfully 
elude law enforcement--so-called ``got aways'' is what they are 
called--is down 86 percent. Smarter technology, physical barriers, and 
double the number of agents on the border have made this achievement 
possible.
  We must ensure those who come to America seeking a better life do so 
in compliance with our laws. The measure before the Senate builds on 
the progress we have made by allocating even more resources for border 
security infrastructure, and that includes patrol bases, unmanned 
vehicles--yes,

[[Page 8641]]

drones--helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, sensors, x-rays, cameras, and 
more. This legislation also includes additional funding for the 
prosecution of those who are caught crossing illegally.
  The legislation also establishes two strict but attainable statutory 
border security goals: to prevent 90 percent of illegal entries and to 
monitor the entire southern border, not just high-risk sectors of the 
border. Chairman Leahy and Chairman Carper agreed in their letter that 
this legislation will reduce illegal entries by reforming our legal 
immigration system.
  This legislation will make it virtually impossible for undocumented 
people to work, so they will no longer have an incentive to enter 
illegally.
  This is what my two colleagues said in their letter:

       We need to stop focusing our attention on the symptoms and 
     start leading with the underlying root causes of illegal 
     immigration in a way that is tough, practical, and fair.

  That says it all. This bill does that.
  There is one thing this bill does not do and should not do: It does 
not and should not make the path to citizenship contingent on attaining 
border security goals that are impossible to measure. That would leave 
millions who aspire to become citizens in indefinite limbo. We have to 
move past this.
  Six years ago we tried to do something about it and the situation 
only got worse. This legislation is critical. If we made those goals 
impossible, the legislation would be a failure. This would give 
opponents of citizenship in the Senate an opportunity to prevent our 
border security goals from being met in order to block the path to 
citizenship. I am concerned that some who oppose the very idea of 
reform see these triggers as a backdoor way to undermine the 
legislation, and we must be very careful in recognizing that people are 
trying to do that with this legislation now before this body. I believe 
some Republicans with no intention of voting for the final bill--no 
intention, regardless of how it is amended--seek to offer amendments 
with the sole purpose of derailing this vital reform.
  I commend Senators--Democrats and Republicans--who sincerely want to 
make this proposal stronger by enhancing its border security 
provisions. So I look forward to hearing ideas over the next few days 
on amendments--ideas to make our country safer and more secure. If that 
is the intent, we will certainly look at it, and I hope we can move 
forward as expeditiously as possible.
  I am glad colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans, are engaged in 
this debate and are interested in offering amendments, but I hope those 
amendments will be constructive in nature. We have come too far and the 
country needs this legislation too badly to lose sight of our purpose 
now.
  As Martin Luther said, ``Everything that is done in the world is done 
by hope.'' There is no better example of that than this legislation 
because hope is what it is all about. As Martin Luther said, 
``Everything that is done in the world is done by hope,'' and I 
certainly believe that regarding this legislation.

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