Bob Menendez: “I want to thank him and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Oxley) for offering the amendment. Let me very briefly say this is…”

“I want to thank him and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Oxley) for offering the amendment. Let me very briefly say this is not about terrorism and homeland security. This is about immigration. That is the bottom line, because I saw the Republican Convention, as I think many others did, and I heard the number one fighter against terrorism was George W. Bush. If that is true, then the statement of administration policy that all of us have says under the heading of matricula consular card, the administration objects to the provision that would prevent the Treasury Department from spending any funds to issue or enforce regulations that do not preclude acceptance by financial institutions of the matricula consular card as a form of identification. It goes on to say the administration, including the Department of Justice and the FBI, believe that it is appropriate that these regulations provide a flexible standard that accommodates local conditions as well as innovation and verification techniques, not a list of documents or methods that must or must not be used. The administration strongly opposes this provision and supports efforts to remove it from the bill during floor consideration. Hence the administration supports the Oxley-Frank amendment and understands this is not about terrorism. This is ultimately about immigration.”