John Cornyn: “about a month ago when we were debating immigration reform and, unfortunately, because of the inability to get…”

“about a month ago when we were debating immigration reform and, unfortunately, because of the inability to get amendments heard and debated and voted on, that process was derailed, and here we are again. I was under the distinct impression that we were actually going to have a chance to offer amendments and then have debates and votes. We will work out whatever the misunderstanding is between the sides. But my hope is that we will have that opportunity because I think the American people are yearning for an honest and complete and comprehensive debate about this issue. It affects all of us. It affects all of the States that each of us as Senators represent, and it represents a clash of our values. We are proudly a nation of immigrants, but we are also a nation of laws. Unfortunately, it is hard to reconcile the second ideal as a nation of laws with the current situation we see in this country with our porous border which last year allowed 1.1 million people to come across the border, and because we only had about 2,000 detention beds, most of those individuals were simply subject to what has now become known as the notorious catch-and- release program.…”