Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006

COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM ACT OF 2006 -- (Senate - May 16, 2006)

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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I would like to speak in support of that amendment this morning.

This approach is a very sound concept. In fact, as we get to the debate about immigration, clearly the first and most important issue to deal with is the issue of border security, and the people across this country are asking us to deal with it. Frankly, until we deal with that issue, we can't move on to the next issue of dealing with the 12 million people who are here already. Until we give the American people the confidence that we are serious about enforcing the border, that becomes an irrelevant conversation. This is a very simple concept.

I have supported the Isakson amendment since he first introduced it. We discussed this issue several weeks ago when he had his amendment filed and pending. I am glad we will have an opportunity to vote on it. I believe it is a very sound approach. It simply says that until we do these things, we can't do these things. The first and foremost paramount responsibility here is border security.

We need to enforce our borders. The Isakson amendment makes that abundantly clear.

Again, before we can deal with the other issues in this debate, I believe the American people expect us to have a secure border and one that is enforced and one that we are serious about in getting our illegal immigration stopped.

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