WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the need to address border security for comprehensive immigration reform:

“At the outset of this debate I expressed my hope that we could do something about our nation’s broken immigration system.

“Millions of men and women are living among us without any documentation or certainty about what the future will bring for themselves or their families. Many of those who come here legally end up staying here illegally. We have no way of knowing who or where they are. And current law simply doesn’t take into account the urgent needs of a modern, rapidly-changing economy.

“Beyond all this, it’s long been a deep conviction of mine that from our earliest days as a people immigration has been powerful force of renewal and national strength. Most of the people who’ve come here over the centuries have come as dreamers and risk-takers, looking for chance at a better life for themselves and their children.

“I can think of no better example of this than my wife, who came here at the age of eight in the cargo hull of a ship, because her parents didn’t have the money for a plane ticket. When she entered the third grade at a public high school in New York, she didn’t speak a word of English. And yet, in just a few short decades she’d be sworn in as a member of the President’s cabinet, an honor and an opportunity she could have hardly guessed at when she first arrived here as a girl.

“This is the kind of story that has made this nation what it is. Legal immigration made it possible. So yes, I had wanted very much to be able to support a reform to our nation’s immigration laws. I knew it would be tough, and the politics aren’t particularly easy either. But the fact is, our constituents didn’t just send us here to name post offices and pass Mother’s Day resolutions. They sent us here to tackle the hard stuff too.

“Broad bipartisan majorities agree that our immigration system needs updating. In my view, we had an obligation to our constituents to at least try to do it, together, and, in the process, show the world that we can still solve big national problems around here. And reaffirm the vital role that legal immigration has played in our history.

“So it’s with a great deal of regret, for me at least, that the final bill didn’t turn out to be something I can support.

“The reason is fairly simple. As I see it, this bill just doesn’t meet the threshold test for success that I outlined at the start of this debate. It just doesn’t say to me, at least, that we’ve learned the lessons of 1986, and that we won’t find ourselves right back in the same situation we found ourselves in after that reform.

“If you can’t be reasonably certain that the border is secure as a condition of legalization, there’s just no way to be sure that millions more won’t follow the illegal immigrants who are already here. As other have rightly pointed out, you also can’t be sure that future congresses won’t just reverse whatever assurances we make today about border security in the future.

“In other words, in the absence of a firm, results-based border security trigger, there’s just no way I can look my constituents in the eye and tell them that today’s assurances won’t become tomorrow’s disappointments; and since the bill before us doesn’t include such a trigger, I can’t support it.

“It doesn’t give me any pleasure to say this, or to vote against this bill. These are big problems that need solving. And I’m deeply grateful to all the members of my caucus and their staffs who devoted so much of their time and worked so hard over a period of many months to solve them. I’m grateful to all of them.

And while I won’t be voting for this bill, I think it has to be said that there are real improvements here.

“Current immigration policy, which prioritizes family-based immigration, hasn’t changed in decades. This bill would take an important step toward the kind of skills-based immigration a growing economy requires. Through new and reformed visa programs, for instance, this bill would provide many of our most dynamic businesses with the opportunity to legally hire the workers they need to remain competitive and expand.

“Some industries, like construction, could and should have fared better. But on balance, I think the improvements to legal immigration contained in this bill are a step in the right direction.

“We’ve learned an important lesson in this debate. One thing I’m fairly certain about is that we’ll never resolve the immigration problem on a bipartisan basis either now or in the future until we can prove that the border is secure as a condition of legalization. This, to me, continues to be the biggest hurdle to reform.

“Frankly, I can’t understand why there’s so much resistance to it on the other side. It seems pretty obvious to me, and I suspect to most Americans, that the first part of immigration reform should be proof that the border is secure. It’s common sense.

“Hopefully, Democrats now realize that this is the one necessary ingredient for success and they’ll be a little more willing to accept it as a condition for legalization. Because until they do, I for one just can’t be confident that we’ve solved this problem, and I know a lot of others won’t be either.

“So this bill may pass the Senate today, but not with my vote. And in its current form, it won’t become law. But the good news is this: the path to success is fairly clear at this point. Success on immigration reform runs through the border. Looking ahead, I think it’s safe to say that’s where our focus should lie.”