Chertoff Sez "Give My Agents The Tools They Need"

Michael Chertoff, Secy. of DHS, in a FOX News interview June 12, 2007, approx. 2:35pm EST

"This Bill gives us a set of tools with respect to enforcement we've never had before. The biggest area in which we can use some help is in the area of employee verifications. We need a manditory system that allows and requires employers to verify the legal status of their workers. With that additional tool, we can really build on a lot of the progress that we've made. But we're not going to get that tool if we don't get this Bill and that's why I say to those of my friends who are very focused on enforcement, 'Give my agents the tools they need to finish the job.'"

About Bush, Chertoff continues, "...He's been a very strong advocate for this. He's listened but he's also been very persuasive and in the end, what's going to carry the day, is not that the President puts his arm around somebody, but that the President makes an argument that the current system is unacceptable and we've got to change it."

"And I think that argument is compelling, and I think most Americans believe that the situation has to be changed."

When asked if the Bill does not pass, Chertoff states, "We will, of course, continue to enforce the law, but we will be enforcing it without some of the most important tools that we'd like to have."