Dianne Feinstein: “this is an amendment to modify the conditions under which aliens who are lawfully present in the United States are…”

“this is an amendment to modify the conditions under which aliens who are lawfully present in the United States are granted legal status. It is submitted on behalf of Senator Harkin and myself. We have a half hour to argue the amendment tomorrow, but I would like to just raise a few points about it tonight. I did have the opportunity to speak about it earlier, but I recognize many Members were not yet back and available. This amendment creates an orange card, a replica of which is on my left. This would streamline the process for earned legalization. It would create a more workable and practical program than exists in the Hagel-Martinez compromise, and it would dedicate the necessary dollars to cover the costs of administering this program. This amendment builds on compromises already agreed to under the McCain-Kennedy and Hagel- Martinez proposals, and it incorporates the amendments already adopted on the floor, but it eliminates what I consider to be a very unworkable three-tier program. This amendment only deals with the earned legalization parts of the bill. It does not change any of the border security provisions, the guest worker program, or any other component of the bill. It would simply eliminate the program created by Hagel- Martinez and replace it with this orange card program. Under Hagel-Martinez, there are three tiers. Now, note this: We have not voted on Hagel-Martinez.…”