[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book I)]
[June 26, 2007]
[Pages 806-808]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks During a Briefing on Immigration Reform
June 26, 2007
Thank you all. Please be seated. Thanks for coming. Thanks for
working on an immigration bill that's important for this country. I
appreciate your efforts, and I appreciate your time.
I do want to thank Secretary Gutierrez and Secretary Chertoff for
their hard work. One of the things I told Members of the Senate was that
the administration is going to be involved in crafting a comprehensive
bill that's good for the country. And I said, we're going to be more
than just giving speeches or using the microphone to proclaim the need
for a comprehensive bill. I would send two members plus our staff up
to--two members of my Cabinet plus our staff up to work the--to work
with the Senators.
And you guys have done a really good job. Thank you for your time.
Thanks for your understanding of the complex, carefully crafted piece of
legislation that is moving through the Senate. And I--you've done
exactly what I asked you to do; that's why you're in the Cabinet.
[Laughter] I appreciate you all helping work this bill through the
Senate.
The first thing that we've got to recognize in the country is that
the system isn't working. The immigration system needs reform. The
status quo is unacceptable. Most Americans understand that. They say:
``Well, we attempted to reform the system in 1986, and the reform didn't
work.'' Our view is, if the status quo is unacceptable, we need to
replace it with something that is acceptable, and have been working
toward that end with both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate. The
reason on the Senate, of course, is that we'll be moving our attention
to the House when the Senate passes a comprehensive piece of
legislation.
The--I view this as an historic opportunity for Congress to act, for
Congress to replace a system that is not working with one that we
believe will work a lot better. In other words, this is a moment for
people who have been elected to come together, focus on a problem, and
show the American people that we can work together to fix the problem.
If you dislike the status quo on immigration, then you ought to be
supporting a comprehensive approach to making sure the system works.
And it's a practical approach. The Senate has worked very hard to
craft a comprehensive bill. In a good piece of legislation like this--in
a difficult piece of legislation like this, you--one side doesn't get
everything they want. It's a careful compromise, and many of you have
been involved with that compromise.
The problem that this bill recognizes--the bill recognizes that we
got to address the problem in a comprehensive fashion. There are people
who say, ``Well, we've got to do more to protect our border.'' And
they're right; we do have to do more to protect our border. And that's
why this bill has a lot of border security measures that will help
continue the strategy that we have been implementing over the past year.
As a matter of fact, there's a $4.4 billion direct deposit on
enforcement measures. But it's important for our fellow citizens to
understand that in order to enforce the border, there has to be a way
for people to come to our country on a temporary basis to do work
Americans aren't doing. Otherwise, they will continue to try to sneak in
across the border.
And therefore, a second aspect of the comprehensive bill is one that
addresses the economic needs of our country, and that is a temporary-
worker program that will match foreign workers with jobs Americans
aren't doing--and notice I say, ``temporary-worker program.'' There are
a lot of employers here in this country that worry
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about having a workforce that will be able to meet the demands and needs
of a growing economy.
There are people who live in our neighborhood and around the world
who are desperate to provide food for their families and recognize there
are available jobs. And they will do anything to come to our country to
work because they want to fight off the poverty and starvation that has
affected their loved ones.
It's a powerful incentive to be a mom or a dad to make sure your
children don't suffer. That's an incentive. That's an incentive for
people here in America; it also happens to be an incentive for people
around the world. And therefore, people will be willing to go to extra
lengths to avoid border security. They'll be willing to be crammed in
the bottom of 18-wheelers. They fall prey to these coyotes who smuggle
human beings to achieve profit.
When I say the system hadn't worked, the system hadn't worked to
enforce our borders like we want. But the system was--also fostered
illegal operations that prey upon the human being, and it's not in this
Nation's interest that that continue to happen.
And finally, this bill goes to the heart of our values. We have
proven that our Nation is capable of assimilating people. And I'm
confident that we can continue to be a nation that assimilates. The bill
recognizes that English is a part of the assimilation process and wants
to help people learn the language in order to be able to take advantage
of America.
You know, I've heard all the rhetoric--you've heard it too--about
how this is amnesty. Amnesty means that you've got to [you don't have
to]* pay a price for having been here illegally, and this bill does
[doesn't do]* that. But it also recognizes it's in our Nation's interest
to bring people out of the shadows, that there's got to be a way forward
that recognizes there is a penalty for being here illegally, on the
other hand, that recognizes that each person has got worth and dignity.
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*White House correction.
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I love a country where people come with dreams and aspirations and
through hard work can realize those dreams and aspirations. I'm struck
every time I hear--I'm struck about our greatness every time I hear a
story about a child taking advantage of a mother's or dad's hard work to
realize the blessings of America. I was at the Coast Guard Academy--I've
told this story several times--and the number-one cadet talked about his migrant grandfather. This fellow was a
Mexican American--or is a Mexican American. The father came from--the
grandfather came from Mexico to work hard so that, hopefully, someday,
somebody in his family would realize the blessings of America. And it
worked.
The country is better off; our soul is constantly renewed; our
spirit is invigorated, when people come here and realize the blessings
of America. And so the bill that we've worked hard to craft is an
important piece of legislation that addresses the needs of a failed
system, that says, we're going to change for the better.
I want to thank you all for working hard. We've got a couple of days
of hard work ahead of us to get the bill through the first stage of the
process, and then, of course, when successful in the Senate, we'll be
reconvening to figure out how to get the bill out of the House. It's an
important piece of legislation. It's an important time to act for the
sake of the country.
Thanks for your time. God bless your efforts. God bless our country.
Thank you. Thank you all.
Note: The President spoke at 9:01 a.m. in Room 350 of the Dwight D.
Eisenhower Executive Office Building. In his remarks, he referred to
Ens. Marc A. Mares, USCG.
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