David Vitter: “My grave concern is that these triggers are wholly inadequate and represent thinking that is backward from where it…”

“My grave concern is that these triggers are wholly inadequate and represent thinking that is backward from where it needs to be. If you look at the triggers designed in the bill, they were arrived at, again, as I would put it, in a backward fashion. The question was asked: Well, it is going to take about 18 months to be ready to enact the other provisions of the bill, so what enforcement are we teed up to do during the next 18 months anyway? We will define that as the enforcement trigger for the bill. I simply think that is the wrong way to arrive at a trigger. The key question has to be: What needs to be done? What is the totality of significant measures that needs to be done in order to have real enforcement at the border and real enforcement at the workplace? Let's make that totality the trigger in the bill. Of course, the triggers are far less than that. One perfect example is the subject of this amendment. The US-VISIT Program has been authorized since 1996, but it is not near operational.”