On the recordJanuary 18, 2007
I believe the Isakson principle is the basis for a comprehensive immigration bill that could attract 85 to 90 votes in the Senate and could, in a fairly short period of time, be reconciled with legislation passed by the House of Representatives. It would be a single piece of legislation that would work in two stages. It would first secure our border; and then, as the Senator from Georgia says, the trigger would come in, and we would get the rest of the job done. And the rest of the job includes defining who can work and who can study in the United States if they come from overseas. The rest of the job also includes helping prospective citizens, of which there are about a million a year today--people who are here legally--to help them learn English, to learn our history, and to learn our democratic traditions so we can be one country. It is more important that we secure our borders at home than it is to secure the borders in Iraq.
Said by
Douglas Alexander
Labour Party
Source
govinfo.gov
