Thread: Sessions speaks on immigration

April 4, 2007

Sessions speaks on immigration

By Paul W. Sullivan
Montgomery Advertiser




A senator from the South says we could learn a lot from our neighbors to the north.

U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, said he is envious of Canada's immigration policy that heavily weighs factors such as what language a person speaks, their educational background and other personal factors before allowing them to become citizens.

Speaking Tuesday to the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce, Sessions said that 60 percent of Canada's immigration entry requirements focus on what the person will contribute to Canada. He said he hopes that Congress will soon pass similar immigration legislation.

Five million people apply yearly for 50,000 slots in what the senator called a huge immigration lottery. The state's junior senator told the RSA Activity Center crowd that America needed to make sure that the winners of the lottery were those who could help America the most.

The conservative senator also gave thanks to some unlikely recipients -- Cuba and China.

The Huntingdon graduate said Alabama taxpayers have the Chinese and Cubans to thank for millions -- if not billions -- of dollars in tax reve nues that will be flowing into state coffers derived from new oil drilling in the Gulf.

He said that when the Chinese and Cubans started drilling 50 miles off the Florida coast it helped break the logjam in Congress that was holding back approval for drilling off the Gulf Coast.

This new drilling combined with more energy from nuclear power, clean coal, natural gas and alternative fuels can help cut the $270 billion bill that America pays to other nations for energy. Worse still, he said that the more money some of these countries receive, the worse and more arrogant their actions seem to become.

Sessions, who serves on the Judiciary, Armed Services, Energy and Natural Resources and Budget committees, also talked about the national budget, saying that the nation's Republican leadership had failed to keep the country fiscally sound and that matters will be worse under the new Democratic leadership.

He said tax cuts appear to be in jeopardy.

"Currently, it will take 60 votes to extend existing tax cuts, and that endangers the economy," Sessions said. "Europe is not progressing with a high tax economy."

Capital gains cuts, easing of the marriage penalty for joint filers and estate tax reductions will end in 2010 or 2011 if congressional leadership doesn't change in the upcoming election cycles, he said.

While the national debt has increased under Bush, Sessions said Bush's tax cuts and economic policy have promoted growth, putting America closer to a balanced federal budget.

"We should be on track to balance the budget by 2011, thanks to an increase in revenue," Sessions said.

Sessions told the group that the war in Iraq was not hopeless. He said the new man in charge, Gen. David Petraeus, told senators he would inform them if victory wasn't possible.

"Congress can't run a war," Sessions said, alluding to attempts to set a timetable for troop withdrawal. "The surge (in troops) is occurring, and we have to stabilize Baghdad to reach the needed political agreements."

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Senator Sessions always has a good point. America deserves to know who, when, and where, immigrants are coming from. That means educational and personal backgrounds, languages spoken, and skills/trades they can offer America if they are chosen to immigrate to our country.