Political Quotes

“Madam President, my colleagues have often heard me speak of my opposition to the legislation that is before us. They have not heard me speak about my opposition to immigration reform. As I have said so many times on this floor and in committee, or even to the press, I have not heard a single Senator say the existing system status quo ought to be maintained. There are a lot of opinions about what should be done. So as we have seen over the last few weeks, immigration is an emotional issue that engenders strong feelings on both sides of the aisle. Saying it for a second time: Everyone wants reform, but everyone has their own ideas and different solutions. Coming into the debate, I think my position has been very clear. I made it very clear because I have the experience of the 1986 legislation. That was legislation legalizing; it did not solve the problem. We screwed up in 1986 by not securing the border first, even though we had the intention that would happen. Today, we are right back at the same place talking about the same problems, proposing the same solutions. Unfortunately, the process has not allowed us to fundamentally improve the bill. We have not been able to vote up or down on commonsense amendments. There has been 550 amendments filed. We have taken up about a dozen. Despite the fact that the American people want the border secured before we provide a path to legalization, there appears to be a majority of this body who believes legalization must come first.…”