Arlen Specter: “the U.S. Senate is on the verge of passing landmark legislation. It has had a long, tortuous path. The McCain-Kennedy…”

“the U.S. Senate is on the verge of passing landmark legislation. It has had a long, tortuous path. The McCain-Kennedy bill was the core proposition and went through very substantial hearings in the Judiciary Committee and a complex markup. It came to the floor at a moment when it was foundering, and we added to it Hagel-Martinez and their ideas to break a very complex logjam at that time. We have labored under the competing principles of rule of law and concern for immigrants who have come to the United States without complying with the law. On the other side, the rich tradition of the formation and development of the greatest country in the history of the world, the United States of America, made up of immigrants. Some came here illegally and some did not. But we are the melting pot, and the immigrants have contributed enormously and have made this the great country which it is today. As we approach the final moments of action in the Senate, we are aware that there are still very strident competing concerns, strident competing interests of those who continue to insist that our legislation is amnesty, contrasted with those of us who point to the facts. The definition of amnesty is forgiveness of some wrongdoing, which is not the case. There is a rigorous ladder which these undocumented immigrants have to pass through. They have to pay a fine, and that $2,000 fine in the underlying bill has now been increased to $3,250.…”