Byron Dorgan: “I wish to comment on a couple of issues dealing with the Energy bill this morning. We will be back on the Energy bill…”

“I wish to comment on a couple of issues dealing with the Energy bill this morning. We will be back on the Energy bill starting on Monday. Before I do, I wish to mention as well the Washington Post column by Robert Novak yesterday entitled ``Dorgan's Poison Pill.'' Mr. Novak once again stops just about a page or two short of good research. He has the opportunity on the op-ed page of a major paper to make his case, and we are so seldom offered that same opportunity by the Washington Post that I thought I would at least use the floor of the Senate to describe accurately what Mr. Novak was trying to write about. He talks about an amendment I offered to the immigration bill. He calls it a ``poison pill'' in the title, and then he says: Dorgan pushed his ``killer amendment'' by voicing the Great Plains populism of his own State. That is sort of sniffing down your nose at the Great Plains populism that exists in some parts of this country. Let me describe what this amendment was. The immigration bill is a bill that is complicated, it is controversial, it is a very large bill, and it has a lot of moving parts to it. One part of the bill deals with the issue of bringing in guest workers--people who aren't now here, who are living elsewhere in other parts of the world--bringing them in to take American jobs. Now, I have great difficulty with the immigration bill as it is written. My feeling about immigration is we have a problem with illegal immigration.”