Statement Of Sen. Patrick Leahy,
Ranking Member, Judiciary Committee,
On The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill
Reported Monday By The Senate Committee On The Judiciary
Senate Floor
March 29, 2006

Over the last several weeks, the Senate, through the work of the Judiciary Committee, took difficult, complex and constructive steps toward a framework for immigration reform that is inclusive and balanced, instead of piecemeal and punitive.  Under the leadership of Chairman Specter and Senator Kennedy, and with hard work from Senators on both sides of the aisle, the Committee has completed its work on a Senate a bill that provides a realistic and reasonable system for immigration.  We voted in a bipartisan majority by a vote of 12 to 6, with two-thirds of the Members of the Committee voting in favor, to report a bill that protects America’s borders, strengthens enforcement and remains true to American values. 

The Judiciary Committee has confronted the challenging problem of how to fix our broken immigration system head on and has sent the Senate a good product.  The Committee met six times to debate a proposal offered by the Chairman, meeting for long hours, and considering dozens of amendments.  The debate was substantive and civil.  It was bipartisan.  It was effective and productive. 

The Committee was given a deadline of March 27 by the Senate’s Republican leadership.  I understood that the Majority Leader had committed to turn to the Committee bill if we were able to meet his deadline and report a bill by Monday night.  It was difficult.  At times that Herculean task seemed undoable and the deadline impossible.  But under the steady leadership of the Chairman and with the hard work and dedication of so many Members of the Committee, we worked through the long hours and numerous amendments and accomplished what had seemed the impossible. 

The Judiciary Committee sent a resounding message, approving a bill by a bipartisan vote of 12-6, with strong bipartisan support of every key amendment.  It is a bill that is strong on enforcement.  In some ways it is stronger than the bill passed by the House.  It includes a provision added by Senator Feinstein, for example, to make tunneling under our borders a federal crime.  It is tough on employer enforcement and tough on traffickers. 

It is also comprehensive and balanced.  It confronts the problem of 12 million undocumented immigrants who live in the shadows.  It values work.  It respects human dignity.  It includes guest worker provisions supported by business and labor.  It includes a way to pay fines and earned citizenship that has the support of religious and leading Hispanic organizations.

These provisions are not amnesty.  Undocumented immigrants already in the country would not get to cut to the front of the line, but, in accordance with the Committee’s bipartisan plan, will need to pay fines, pay back taxes, work hard, and wait in line for green cards.  They must pass background checks and play by the rules.  With fines and hard work and going to the back of the line, after 11 years, by following a regularized path to legal status, the currently undocumented will join as full participants in American society.  Following this plan, we can create an orderly system for immigration that is consistent with traditional American values and our history. 

Opponents of a fair, comprehensive approach are quick to claim that anything but the most punitive provisions are “amnesty.”  They are wrong.  President Reagan signed an amnesty bill in 1986.  This is not an amnesty bill.  An editorial in the The New York Times entitled “It Isn’t Amnesty” makes the point that painting the word “deer” on a cow and taking it into the woods does not make the cow a deer.   Our Committee bill should not be falsely labeled.  Our bill is more properly called what it is, a “smart, tough” bill. 

The Committee also voted to add several constructive and practical measures to the Chairman’s mark.  We added a new version of the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act, or “Ag Jobs,” a bill that I have long supported and that has been championed by Senator Craig.  Ag Jobs will reform the H2A visa program for temporary agricultural labor.  This new version will help dairy farmers in Vermont and other states to legally hire foreign workers.  The bipartisan provision approved by the panel would make dairy workers able to work, on visas, for up to 3 years, with the opportunity to adjust to permanent residence achieve their full potential and become eligible for higher paying occupations.

The American people are engaging with us in this debate, and the Nation’s newspapers are reflecting the public’s growing interest in how these decisions will be settled. In my home state, The Burlington Free Press and The Rutland Daily Herald have offered thoughtful editorial observations about these issues, and I commend these editorials to the attention of my colleagues.

The Committee also adopted an amendment to include the bipartisan Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, called the DREAM Act.  This provision will allow immigrant students to attend college and to become permanent residents if they follow the rules established in the Act.  It will free eligible students from the constant fear of deportation, while allowing them to work so they can afford to pay for college.  By our bipartisan Committee vote, we hope to extend to Hispanic young people greater educational opportunities so that they may realize the American dream and achieve their potential.

The Committee wisely agreed to drop several controversial provisions.  Early in the process, I led an effort to remove a provision directing the Department of Homeland Security to study building a barrier, fence or wall along the Northern Border with Canada. 

The Committee bill wisely dropped controversial provisions that would have exposed those who provide humanitarian relief, medical care, shelter, counseling and other basic services to undocumented aliens to possible prosecution under felony alien smuggling provisions of the criminal law.   I thank so many in the relief and religious communities for speaking out on this matter.  Those criminal provisions should be focused on the smugglers and under the Committee bill that is what we did.  The Committee also voted down a measure that would have criminalized mere presence in an undocumented status in the United States.  Illegal status is currently a civil offense with very serious consequences, including deportation, but criminalizing that status was punitive and wrong.  It would have led to further harsh consequences and trapped people in permanent underclass status.  These policies, which were included in the House-passed bill and supported by congressional Republicans, understandable sparked nationwide protests and were viewed as anti-immigrant and inconsistent with American values and history.  The Committee bill, while tough on enforcement and on the smugglers, is smarter and fairer.

Finally, I thank the Chairman for setting aside provisions in the mark that would have consolidated all immigration appeals from around the Nation into the jurisdiction of the Federal Circuit.  That is a court of specialized jurisdiction created to hear patent appeals and cases involving technical intellectual property issues.  The Judicial Conference and Federal judges from across the country expressed serious concerns with these proposals.  The Chairman did the right thing when he agreed to hold a hearing and further consider what provisions will best correct the problems created by Attorney General Ashcroft’s ill conceived actions with respect to these matters.    

The peaceful demonstrations around the country over the last weeks call on the Congress to recognize the human dignity of all and to do the right thing, in keeping with longstanding American values.  We need a comprehensive solution to a national problem.  We need a fair, realistic and reasonable system that includes both tough enforcement and immigration reform provisions.  The bill reported by the Judiciary Committee is that bill.  This can be a pivotal moment in helping to achieve that goal.  The Judiciary Committee’s debate has produced a bill that, I believe, would make my immigrant grandparents proud and is worthy of our support.   

I thank the many individuals and organizations who were so helpful to us during Committee consideration of the bill.  Included among those supporting this measure are many labor unions, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, leading Hispanic organizations such as the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund and National Council of La Raza and many religious organizations, including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. 

I ask unanimous consent that editorials from The Rutland Daily Herald, The Burlington Free Press and The New York Times be printed in the Record.

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