    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book I)]
    [May 16, 2007]
    [Pages 585-586]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Discussion on the Employment Eligibility
    Verification System
    May 16, 2007

        I appreciate the discussion we just had on immigration. With us are
    people who are employers, people who provide work for citizens who are
    in our country legally. They know full well it's against the law to hire
    somebody who is here illegally. They need help from the Government to
    make sure the person they hire is here legally, that they're not dealing
    with forged documents.
        And so we've been reviewing the upgrading of the Basic Pilot
    program, which is the Government's attempt to help small-business owners
    and larger business owners make sure that the people they're finding
    work for are not breaking the law. In other words, we can't ask our
    employers to verify somebody here unless we help them. And the reason
    why we're talking about this subject is that holding employers to
    account for violating the law is an integral part of a comprehensive
    immigration reform package.
        I thank members of my Cabinet, Secretaries Gutierrez and Chertoff, for
    taking the White House lead in working with Members of the United States
    Senate to get a comprehensive immigration bill to the floor as quickly
    as possible, that can pass the Senate. And it's been hard work. This is
    a very emotional issue. I firmly believe that the bill needs to be
    comprehensive. In other words, you can't have one aspect of immigration
    reform pass and not other aspects; otherwise, we'll be back to where we
    were in the past, and that is, reform efforts have failed because it
    hadn't been comprehensive enough.
        The best way and frankly only way to get a comprehensive bill done
    that will

    [[Page 586]]

    matter and deal with this issue once and for all is for the bipartisan
    approach that we're now working on come to fruition, that it's got to be
    a bipartisan bill that is--is that bill our Secretaries are working on
    with members from both parties in the Senate. Hopefully, that bill can
    get to the floor as quickly as possible, and, hopefully, we can get a
    positive vote so we can get the bill over to the House of
    Representatives.
        But there is a good chance. I'm optimistic that we can get
    comprehensive immigration reform: one, that enforces our borders; two,
    holds employers to account; three, recognizes we've got workers here who
    are doing jobs Americans aren't doing, and they ought to have a--there
    ought to be a temporary-worker permit to do so; four, to make sure that
    we treat people who are here already with respect and dignity, without
    amnesty, without animosity; and, five, to continue the assimilation
    program, so necessary to make sure our country continues to move forward
    in an optimistic way.
        And so I want to thank you all for sharing with me your stories. I
    appreciate the fact that you're deeply concerned about upholding the
    law. I thank you for sharing with me your desires to see that Congress
    get a comprehensive immigration bill done soon. And I assure you that
    the White House, along with decent, honorable Members of the Senate, are
    working very hard to bring that bill to conclusion.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:35 a.m. at the Embassy Suites Washington
    D.C.-Convention Center. The Office of the Press Secretary also released
    a Spanish language transcript of these remarks. A portion of these
    remarks could not be verified because the tape was incomplete.