Thread: COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM -- (Senate - May 11, 2007)

S.1348
Title: A bill to provide for comprehensive immigration reform and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Reid, Harry [NV] (introduced 5/9/2007) Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Cosponsors (4)
Latest Major Action: 5/14/2007 Senate floor actions. Status: Motion to proceed to consideration of measure withdrawn in Senate.

COSPONSORS(4), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]:Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*(Sort: by date)Sen Kennedy, Edward M. [MA] - 5/9/2007 Sen Leahy, Patrick J. [VT] - 5/9/2007
Sen Menendez, Robert [NJ] - 5/9/2007 Sen Salazar, Ken [CO] - 5/9/2007

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z ... 01348:@@@T

TITLE(S): (italics indicate a title for a portion of a bill)

SHORT TITLE(S) AS INTRODUCED:
Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007
AgJOBS Act of 2007
Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act of 2007
Border Infrastructure and Technology Modernization Act
Border Law Enforcement Relief Act of 2007
Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2007
DREAM Act of 2007
Fairness in Immigration Litigation Act of 2007
Hurricane Katrina Victims Immigration Benefits Preservation Act
Immigrant Accountability Act of 2007
Initial Entry, Adjustment, and Citizenship Assistance Grant Act of 2007
Kendell Frederick Citizenship Assistance Act
Securing Knowledge, Innovation, and Leadership Act of 2007
September 11th Family Humanitarian Relief and Patriotism Act
SKIL Act of 2007
State Court Interpreter Grant Program Act
Strengthening American Citizenship Act of 2007
Widows and Orphans Act of 2007

OFFICIAL TITLE AS INTRODUCED:
S.1348
Title: A bill to provide for comprehensive immigration reform and for other purposes

Latest Major Action: 5/14/2007 Senate floor actions. Status: Motion to proceed to consideration of measure withdrawn in Senate.ALL ACTIONS: 5/9/2007

5/11/2007:Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6007-600


Page S6008
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/R?r ... 001:S06008
1 . COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM -- (Senate - May 11, 2007)

[Page: S6007] GPO's PDF
---http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2007_record&page=S6007&position =all

Â*Â*Â*Mr. REID. Mr. President, it is clear--we all agree--that the immigration system is broken and badly in need of a fix. We have 12 million immigrants, some of who live in constant fear. We have employers facing the quandary each day over who they can hire and who they cannot hire, while raids regularly disrupt and even shut down their businesses. Crops can't be harvested. Produce is dying on the vine because farmers cannot hire enough workers to harvest the crop. Under the current system, there are no winners but lots of losers. Â*Â*Â*Next Tuesday, right after our weekly party conferences, the Senate will have an opportunity to vote on whether to begin debate on the complex and critical challenge of immigration reform. The bill we debate and eventually pass will give us a chance to strengthen border security, put in place an effective and efficient employer verification system, design a new worker program to take the pressure off the border, and give those 12 million undocumented immigrants the opportunity to come out of the shadows and into the light of day.

[Page: S6008] GPO's PDF
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin ... sition=all

Â*Â*Â*Over the past several months, Senators from both sides of the aisle, Republicans and Democrats, have spent countless hours negotiating a bipartisan solution to this critical challenge. These Senators have been bargaining in good faith. I believe they are working hard to reach a compromise. I hope they can do that. But if they are not able to reach a new bipartisan agreement, we have an opportunity to move forward on a previous bipartisan piece of legislation.
The bill I placed on the calendar is the same bill the Senate passed last year overwhelmingly with 23 Republicans voting in favor of the legislation. Last year's bill was far from perfect. Many of us had misgivings about it--this Senator included--but it is a solid, comprehensive package that will serve as a good start for this year's very important and vital debate. Several of my colleagues have said we should not move forward at this time; let's wait. Â*Â* Over this weekend, there will be negotiations taking place--the rest of this day, Saturday, Sunday, and I hope Monday--to see if a compromise can be reached. If we put this off a week, the same thing would happen. People would be trying to work something out at the last minute. There has been ample opportunity for people to work out an arrangement. I have asked publicly and privately that the President be involved. Members have put so much time and effort into working on an immigration bill, they certainly should embrace a motion to start debate. Â*Â*Â*Those who have threatened a filibuster on the motion to proceed I hope will reconsider the threat and understand how illogical it would be not to allow us to proceed. A bill that passed this body last year with 21 Republicans voting for the legislation now saying they are not going to proceed does not make sense to me. Â*Â*Â*Let me be as clear as I can: By moving this bill, I am trying to make sure negotiations continue. There has been ample time for negotiations to bear fruit. The purpose of this legislation is to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform. I want this Congress to accomplish immigration reform, but we are running out of time to do it. We have set aside the next 2 weeks to do this. After that, we have 4 weeks, and then we have the July 4 recess. After that, 4 more weeks, and then we are into the August recess. There is no more time to do it. Today is the time. If we don't do it, starting next Tuesday, there will be no immigration reform this Congress. That would be a real shame. Â*Â*Â*The House is waiting for us to do this. As everyone knows, the schedule we have is so crowded. This next 2 weeks, in addition to doing immigration reform, we have to send a bill to the President for supplemental appropriations for the ongoing conflict in Iraq, the civil war in Iraq. We want to try to do our budget. We are going to finish WRDA. We have an energy bill we have to do. That is keeping in mind all the procedural hurdles that are always present in the Senate. Â*Â*Â*A vote to proceed is a vote to open debate, not shut the door on it. If a new agreement is reached, it can be offered as a substitute amendment to this bill on the floor at any time. If a new agreement is not reached, we can legislate the old-fashioned way--taking out what people do not like and putting in new stuff. We can offer amendments to the existing bipartisan bill to make it even better than the one we passed last year. Either path leads to progress that is long overdue. Â*Â*Â*I suggest the absence of a quorum. Â*Â*Â*The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll. Â*Â*Â*The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Â*Â*Â*Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. Â*Â*Â*The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered

SEC. 142. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following1) It is the obligation of the Federal Government of the United States to adequately secure the Nation's borders and prevent the flow of undocumented persons and illegal drugs into the United States.(2) Despite the fact that the United States Border Patrol apprehends over 1,000,000 people each year trying to illegally enter the United States, according to the Congressional Research Service, the net growth in the number of unauthorized aliens has increased by approximately 500,000 each year. The Southwest border accounts for approximately 94 percent of all migrant apprehensions each year. Currently, there are an estimated 11,000,000 unauthorized aliens in the United States.(3) The border region is also a major corridor for the shipment of drugs. According to the El Paso Intelligence Center, 65 percent of the narcotics that are sold in the markets of the United States enter the country through the Southwest Border.(4) Border communities continue to incur significant costs due to the lack of adequate border security. A 2001 study by the United States-Mexico Border Counties Coalition found that law enforcement and criminal justice expenses associated with illegal immigration exceed $89,000,000 annually for the Southwest border counties.(5) In August 2005, the States of New Mexico and Arizona declared states of emergency in order to provide local law enforcement immediate assistance in addressing criminal activity along the Southwest border.(6) While the Federal Government provides States and localities assistance in covering costs related to the detention of certain criminal aliens and the prosecution of Federal drug cases, local law enforcement along the border are provided no assistance in covering such expenses and must use their limited resources to combat drug trafficking, human smuggling, kidnappings, the destruction of private property, and other border-related crimes.(7) The United States shares 5,525 miles of border with Canada and 1,989 miles with Mexico. Many of the local law enforcement agencies located along the border are small, rural departments charged with patrolling large areas of land. Counties along the Southwest United States-Mexico border are some of the poorest in the country and lack the financial resources to cover the additional costs associated with illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and other border-related crimes.( Federal assistance is required to help local law enforcement operating along the border address the unique challenges that arise as a result of their proximity to an international border and the lack of overall border security in the region

[/b]Nothing in this subtitle shall be construed to authorize State or local law enforcement agencies or their officers to exercise Federal immigration law enforcement authority.

Hurricane Katrina Victims Immigration Benefits Preservation Act

So! We PAY for ALIENS to come in and set up shop in the same area where our KATRINA VICTIMS have lost their homes and have no means of returning?????

Are they freaking INSANE? Do they really think that we're that ignorant?

Initial Entry, Adjustment, and Citizenship Assistance Grant Act of 2007

SO!!! We are to give FEDERAL MONEY - better known as AMERICAN TAXPAYERS MONEY - and PAY these ILLEGALS for CITIZENSHIP ASSISTANCE????

I sure hope everyone sounds off like never before over the next few days! WE'RE NOT AND NEVER WILL ACCEPT THIS TREASON.