[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 26 (Monday, July 2, 2007)]
[Pages 863-864]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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 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.
    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 and 
a difficult piece of legislation like this, 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 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.

[[Page 864]]

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.
    * White House correction.
    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. The 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.