Arlen Specter: “Before the distinguished ranking member, Senator Leahy, leaves the floor, I would like his attention for a minute. He…”

“Before the distinguished ranking member, Senator Leahy, leaves the floor, I would like his attention for a minute. He has to leave because he has other commitments. First, I congratulate him on the work he has done on this bill. I congratulate him on the work he has done in his 31 years in the Senate generally, but especially in the last 15 months, when he and I have worked together on the Judiciary Committee. I wanted to say this while he was still on the floor. As chairman, I am committed to make this immigration bill the No. 1 priority of the Judiciary Committee. When we are unable to complete action on this bill today, as it now appears, I want everyone to know when we come back after the recess, this is our No. 1 priority. We succeeded in the Judiciary Committee, where everybody thought we would fail. Senator Kennedy was on the committee and Senator Durbin was on the committee. I mention them because they are in the Chamber. We were given an impossible deadline, but we met it. We met it by having a marathon markup on a Monday, which is unheard of around here-- especially a Monday after a recess. We did it by voting 57 times. We had in that marathon markup 14 rollcall votes and 43 voice votes. We had a lot of tough votes, but we finished the bill and we reported it to the Senate. We are going to go back to work on this bill because if the full Senate cannot find the answer, then the Judiciary Committee is going to find the answer.…”