Political Quotes

“Madam President, there are many reasons given to enact immigration reform. Being from Arizona, we bear a disproportionate burden in the State from the Federal Government's failure to have a secure border and to have a rational immigration system. There are many reasons, but the fiscal reason isn't often brought up. We were just given good fiscal reason today by the Congressional Budget Office that came forward with their estimate for the cost of the legislation. Just a few minutes ago we heard the ``glass half empty'' speech, and I want to give the ``glass half full''--or actually, decidedly more than that. Let me take a few of the top-line numbers. First, we are often told that if we enact this legislation, the increase in population of those who come across--illegally or legally-- in the next 10 years will be some 30 million people. That is disputed by the facts on the ground. But also CBO points out in their estimate that by 2023, enacting S. 744 would lead to a net increase of 10.4 million in the number of people residing in the United States compared to the number of people projected under current law. So it is significantly lower. The best estimate we have of the illegal population here is around 11 million. This would also lead to a substantial decrease in the illegal population obviously coming across. So we are looking at an increased population of about 10.4 million over 10 years, decidedly lower than some of the estimates that are being thrown around.…”