Jon Kyl: “this is a simple amendment, a very important amendment. It is not inconsequential. It changes in a major way a specific…”

“this is a simple amendment, a very important amendment. It is not inconsequential. It changes in a major way a specific feature of the underlying bill. But I believe that feature is wrong and needs to be changed. The underlying bill sets up a temporary worker program, but it is not temporary in the sense that the workers who come here and get a temporary worker permit can then apply for permanent legal residency and ultimately citizenship. There is no reason to deny them that under the bill. As a result, you never have temporary workers. You always have permanent workers, people who are allowed to come here originally as temporary but who can in effect automatically convert their status to permanent legal residency and then citizenship. The question is, Why is that necessary? The second point is it creates a problem when economic conditions change. Why would it be necessary? There are many visas in our system today that are temporary. In fact, there are skilled labor visas that are temporary. They can be renewed. They are based upon an economic need. When there is a job here that is going unfulfilled by an American worker, we have the ability to issue visas to foreigners who can then come here and work for a temporary period of time. Then they return home. As long as there are jobs here, those visas ordinarily continue, but when the work is not here, the visas stop. That is a good thing. I support a temporary worker program under this legislation.…”