John Cornyn: “But I believe it is important, when we are talking about America's competitiveness, to talk about people with some of…”

“But I believe it is important, when we are talking about America's competitiveness, to talk about people with some of the very most desirable skills and education and how it is that we might attract them to live and work and create jobs here in America. First, I express my gratitude to both Senator Bingaman and Senator Alexander for their leadership on this issue. It is not often enough that we have an opportunity to work on a bipartisan basis on something that is so right and so good and so meritorious as this. It feels good. I think we ought to do it more often. I do wish to talk about this amendment which is called the Securing Knowledge, Innovation, and Leadership Act amendment, otherwise known as the SKIL bill. This was a component of the comprehensive immigration reform bill that passed the Senate last year. Of course, that did not go anywhere. We are back again. I assure my colleagues that we will be coming back time and time again until we get this matter voted on. In the past 2 years, there has been much focus by Congress and the administration on restoring America's competitive edge.”