María Elvira Salazar: “as we resume the immigration reform debate in the Senate this week, I am mindful of the fact that we have indeed come a…”

“as we resume the immigration reform debate in the Senate this week, I am mindful of the fact that we have indeed come a very long way and that this Senate has spent a significant amount of time dealing with the issue of immigration. Last year, we were on the issue of immigration for over a month. This year, through the dialog and discussion of immigration, we have been working on this for the last several months. We were on the bill through last week and will continue to work on it this week. Hopefully, at the end of the week, we will be able to act on comprehensive immigration reform for our country. As I have often said, from my point of view, this is an issue of national security. It would be an abdication on the part of the Senate in Washington today if we were not able to move forward with comprehensive immigration reform. Since in the days after 9/11, it has become clearer and clearer to us that we need to secure the borders. Our legislation does, in fact, secure the borders. Secondly, the legislation makes sure that we move forward to enforce the laws of America. The legislation we have proposed is a tough law- and-order piece of legislation that will make sure we have the resources, that the United States doesn't look away from the enforcement of our laws, and that we enforce them.”