John Cornyn: “let me assure my colleague, Senator Kennedy, that only those who have actually been convicted of document fraud would be…”

“let me assure my colleague, Senator Kennedy, that only those who have actually been convicted of document fraud would be excluded under my amendment. According to recent statistics, roughly 10 million Americans fell victim to identity theft last year, at an estimated cost of $50 billion to U.S. taxpayers, and victims spent an average of $1,500 and 175 hours to actually recover their good name and their good credit after identity theft. This is not a trivial matter, and it is only people who have actually been convicted, not those who have presented false documents to work in the country who have not been convicted. As far as the woman with four American children and married to an American spouse, my amendment does not touch her rights under current law. For example, we don't touch current law waivers for consent to reapply for admission. We don't touch the Secretary's ability to grant humanitarian parole. And we don't touch the waivers under current law that cover an immigrant who is the spouse of a U.S. citizen. I thought Mr. Durbin, the Senator from Illinois, was satisfied with that answer earlier, but I point that out to my colleagues just so they can be satisfied that there are exceptions for extraordinary circumstances. What this amendment does is it broadly says felons will not be given the benefits of legalization and a path to American citizenship.”