Johnny Isakson: “for a moment I wanted to address the subject of immigration before we leave for the weekend. About 2 months ago, I…”

“for a moment I wanted to address the subject of immigration before we leave for the weekend. About 2 months ago, I offered an amendment to the Senate immigration bill which at the time was referred to as a deal-breaker. I want to suggest that it is now being referred to as a deal-maker. I wish to offer some suggestions constructively for the Senate to consider and others who are involved in this debate. I want to repeat, for the benefit of everyone, what the amendment I offered and the distinguished Presiding Officer supported, as well as many other Members of the Senate--not enough but almost enough--simply said: That no program contained in the act that granted legal status to someone who was in America illegally could take effect until the Secretary of Homeland Security certified that all of the border security measures proposed in the act in title I and section 233 of title II were in force, funded, and operational. It has become known as a trigger because it said that any guest worker program or any other reform that took place could only take place after we had done the job the American people suggested we should do. A lot of people said: We can't secure our border. If we can transplant hearts and fly to the Moon, we can secure our border. What we have needed is resolve.…”