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U.S.
Senator Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs
Committees |
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For Immediate
Release March 30, 2006 |
CONTACT: Cody Wertz – Comm. Director 303-455-7600 Andrew Nannis – Press Secretary 202-224-5852 |
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – United States Senator Ken Salazar today gave a statement on the floor of the U.S. Senate regarding comprehensive immigration reform. Remarks as Prepared - March 30, 2006 I rise this morning to speak in support of the immigration reform bill which has been produced of our Judiciary Committee. I want to first congratulate Senator Specter and Senator Leahy for their leadership in that effort in the Judiciary Committee. I also want to congratulate all of my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, who have come together in support of this historic measure that is now before the Senate. I believe that this measure truly represents the kind of bipartisan spirit that leads to the best policy creation for our country. I’m also proud of the eight sponsors of the McCain-Kennedy bill, including Senator McCain and Senator Graham, Senator Brownback, Senator Martinez, Senator Kennedy, Senator Lieberman and Senator Obama, who came together and have led part of the effort to make sure that we address comprehensive immigration reform this year. I believe these bipartisan success stories establish the kind of civility that we need to have in the United States Senate to be able to address the major issues that affect our country. In reality, what the Judiciary Committee proposal does is it addresses the real problem that we currently are facing in our country. We are facing a reality of broken borders and lawlessness in our borders as well as the interior with regard to immigration issues. What the Judiciary Committee bill does is it takes that reality of broken borders and lawlessness and creates a system that addresses our national security by strengthening our borders. It takes that system and reality of broken borders and lawlessness and says that we can do a better job in securing our interior by enforcing our immigration laws. It takes that system of broken borders and lawlessness and it creates a workable system of immigration that addresses both the economic and human realities of immigration in our nation. And finally, it takes that system of broken borders and lawlessness and tackles head on the horrible injustice that occurs with human trafficking that we see in our immigration problem of today. As the Senate works to perfect and strengthen this legislation, it is my hope that we will build upon the Committee’s work. I believe if we continue to work in a bi-partisan manner, our final work product will be a comprehensive immigration reform law that protects our borders and addresses the human and economic realities within our homeland. I believe that comprehensive immigration reform legislation must be: TOUGH at the border and on employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, FAIR to those who agree to pay taxes and commit no crimes, and PRACTICAL by providing solutions to today’s illegal immigration problems and addressing our future workforce needs. I know I am not alone in supporting this type of approach. Just last week, the President met with Americans from the business, faith, agriculture, and civil rights communities to discuss immigration reform. There were two Coloradans who attended this meeting – Cindy Clark from The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs and Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput. I commend Ms. Clark and Archbishop Chaput for voicing the concerns of Coloradans with the President. I have also spoken with President Bush, and several Members of his Cabinet, about the need for changes to our immigration laws. I share his belief that: “Ours is a nation of law and ours is a nation of immigrants, we believe that we can have rational, important immigration policy that’s based upon law and reflects our deep desire to be a compassionate and decent nation.” Immigration is a vital component of our nation’s history. Our country has always been seen as a land of opportunity for immigrants who are willing to work hard for a chance at the American dream for their families. Indeed, without the important contributions immigrants have made to our country, the United States would not exist as we know it today. In my home state of Colorado, the first non-natives to explore our lands were the Spanish. They arrived nearly 500 years ago, and left their mark on the American Southwest and Colorado. Their presence is reflected in the names of my state and its cities, rivers, and mountains, and even in the food we eat. More recently, immigrants came to Colorado to farm and ranch, to mine our state’s abundant natural resources, build the railroads, and forge steel. They came, and continue to come, out of desperation, but also out of hope—the hope of America. In a recent local newspaper column, Bill Burnett, a former councilman of the little Colorado town of Minturn, summed up the sentiments of many Coloradans: “Without immigrants, we never would’ve built this place.” The sentiment is echoed by many all across this great country of ours. It can also be heard through the words of Emma Lazarus’ great poem, “The New Colossus,” inscribed at the foot of the Statue Liberty, Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! Our country has always been a beacon of hope. We must hold true to the words of Bill Burnett, and generations of immigrants who have built our country. My own family migrated to Colorado in the 1850s—almost 20 years before Colorado became a state. We came from northern New Mexico and Santa Fe--a city we helped found over 250 years earlier, before there was a Plymouth Rock or a Jamestown. We pioneered the settlement of Colorado’s San Luis Valley, where we have farmed the same land for generations. In truth, every one of us in Congress, and indeed virtually every person in this country, has a story to tell of their immigrant roots. That is because we are a nation of immigrants, a historical fact that has made us the wonder, hope and envy of the world for centuries. But there is no question that our immigration laws are not working. We have broken borders in America today. We must fix the problem for the sake of the national security of our nation. The level of illegal immigration on our borders is unacceptable and has to change. Our borders are undermanned and overwhelmed. We must get far better control of the border. In the past decade, we have seen the number of undocumented immigrants residing in our country rise from 4 million in 1986 to 12 million in 2006. While the vast majority of these individuals have come to our country to work and provide for their families, the fact that we have permitted millions to cross our borders illegally is unacceptable. Enforcement of our immigration laws has certainly not kept pace with the flow of both legal and illegal immigration, and the laws that deal with those who crossed the border are enforced so rarely in recent years that they might as well not exist. For example, the number of audits of employers suspected of utilizing unauthorized labor had dropped dramatically as has the number of cases resulting in fines against unscrupulous employers. In this Post-9/11 era, it is critical that we get control of our borders – both northern and southern – so that we can protect our country from outside threats that would do harm to Americans AND punish those who exploit the hopes of foreign workers through human trafficking. Solving our nation’s illegal immigration problems is a matter of national security. To that end, the first priority of immigration reform must be to provide for adequate and sensible border security and renewed federal commitment to enforcing our nation’s immigration laws. The Judiciary Committee bill contains several provisions that will strengthen enforcement both at the border and within our interior. It contains more than thirty provisions that will ensure the security of our Nation’s borders. Among the numerous provisions, the bill:
Some would have preferred that we wall off our country along our southern border. To the proponents of building a wall, I ask—what would Ronald Reagan say? We should not repeat the example of the Berlin Wall, one of the most shameful symbols of anti-freedom and oppression ever designed by man, designed solely to keep people from opportunity, hope and freedom. It was President Reagan who told the Soviet leader, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” Some also want to make criminals out of local parish priests who counsel their immigrant parishioners and soup kitchen workers who provide a warm meal to the hungry. That, too, is wrong. I am pleased that the Judiciary Committee bill does not call for the construction of a massive wall along our border and does not make criminals out of millions of Americans who come into contact with undocumented immigrants. But these security and enforcement efforts alone cannot be our sole means to confront this challenge. In the past, Congress has focused exclusively on this critical component. Over the last decade, we have tripled the number of Border Patrol agents who spend eight times as many hours patrolling the border. During this same period, the undocumented population was doubled in size, and the per-apprehension costs have skyrocketed nearly 500%. The reality is regardless of how much money we dedicate to border and interior enforcement; there are economic forces that spur immigration. Our country’s current workforce is continuing to age and our newer workers have become more educated and less interested in taking important jobs that our growing economy keeps creating. As they have for generations, hard-working immigrants will step in to fill critical needs in important economic sectors, such as agriculture. The Judiciary Committee’s challenge was to address our current and future economic realities. Providing amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants is not an option. I continue to oppose this approach. But spending billions of dollars deporting these same individuals is unrealistic and unworkable. Instead, I believe the way we deal with these realities is to create an orderly system requiring illegal immigrants to come forward, register, and pay a fine for their illegal conduct-- just as citizens are fined for unlawful activity. In exchange for coming forward, these individuals will be given a temporary and conditional visa. After six years, if they meet numerous requirements, including proving they are integrating into our country by learning English, U.S. history and government, pay back taxes, commit no crimes, and pay more fines, they can get to the back of the line behind those who are currently waiting to become U.S. citizens. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, if our economy continues to grow by 3 percent, the economic growth will increase the number of U.S. jobs by 14.6 percent between 2002 and 2012. Moreover, because of turnover and retirement, BLS projects there will be 56 million job openings during this same time. There will be many Americans who are ready and willing to fill these jobs. Immigrants will play a critical role in bridging the gap between our labor force needs and available American workers. The Judiciary Committee bill also establishes a new program that will provide our economy with an orderly and limited supply of worker visas. Under the bill’s provisions, businesses cannot hire foreign workers through this program unless they can prove to the U.S. Department of Labor that they actively recruited American workers and advertised jobs at fair wages, but still found no American workers. These “temporary workers” would have to undergo security checks before they would be allowed into the county. By shifting the flow of immigrants willing to work in our country to legal channels, we will allow our border and homeland security officials to finally focus on catching the criminals and terrorists who put our nation at risk. In addition, the bill addresses the labor needs of a vital sector of Colorado’s business economy: agriculture. I am pleased that the Judiciary Committee has included many important reforms to the H-2A temporary agricultural program contained in the bi-partisan AgJOBS bill. According to the Colorado Farm Bureau, between $56.9 million and $1.08 billion in Colorado production would be lost to foreign producers if reforms are not made to the H-2A program. In addition, up to one-third of the fruit and vegetable sector would disappear. Colorado farmers from every corner of the state have written to me urging the Senate to keep in mind the needs of agriculture industry. The needs of Colorado’s agriculture community impact more than just our farms and ranches. For every farm worker job we lose, 3 to 4 jobs will be lost in related economic sectors – such as equipment, packaging, processing, transportation, lending, and insurance industries – that support agriculture production in our country. I look forward to the debate on the Judiciary Committee bill. It is the result of bi-partisan compromise. It is an enforcement-plus strategy designed to ensure that we accomplish the task of securing our borders. I pledge to work together with Democrats and Republicans here in the Senate to ensure that we enact legislation that is tough, fair, and practical. If we accomplish this goal, I believe the Senate can finally end the shadow economy, restore the rule of law, and remove incentives for future illegal immigrants to come here under the cover of darkness. I want to today, in this period of morning business as we enter into this debate, to simply read from one of my favorite prayers from a person who understood importance of immigration especially in the context of this debate. That is Cesar Chavez. He wrote this prayer and it's something that I think that all of us in this chamber should keep in mind as we move forward in this debate:
Show
me the suffering of the most miserable; Free
me to pray for others; Help
me take responsibility for my own life; Grant
me courage to serve others; Give
me honesty and patience; Bring
forth song and celebration; Let the
Spirit flourish and grow; Let us
remember those who have died for justice; Help
us love even those who hate us; ###
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