I say to Senator Thune, thank you for your leadership in offering a clear legislative proposal that will work. It is my observation that things that get proposed around here that do not work often are passed; things that will actually work…

I thank the Senator from South Dakota. He is exactly correct. This is a failure of Congress and the administration. As soon as some discretion was given to the administration to not build a fence, they quit building a fence, and we are so…

the prime sponsor, I suppose, of the immigration bill before us--this 1,000-page document--Senator Schumer, announced earlier today, based on the Congressional Budget Office report, that lower deficits were promised, and that the bill…

I ask to be notified in 5 minutes. I believe Senator Vitter's airplane has been delayed. His amendment is projected to come up. I don't know if it will be called up if he is not able to get back. He has an excellent amendment that deals…

coming up, we will be voting on some amendments. I just want to share a few thoughts as we gather in advance of that. One of the comments made earlier by one of our good Senators indicated a belief that this immigration bill is going to…

I thank the Chair, reserve the remainder of my time, and yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.

I earlier reported on some points in speeches I had made about some of the promises from the Gang of 8 concerning the legislation they have offered and why they are not fulfilled in their bill; for example, the triggers, and the…

last week I gave remarks on the floor that pointed out that promises made that the immigration bill before us was a significant move toward merit-based immigration and away from chain immigration--I dealt with that subject. I am not aware…

Thank you. I did not realize that. How much time is remaining? The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 1 minute.

I thank the Chair. The best politics, in my view, is to do the right thing for the right reason and to be able to explain what one is doing cogently and honestly to the American people, and then the people will decide. If they do not like…

They do not favor the huge increase of legal flow that is called for in this bill. Maybe later I will be able to talk about some of the difficulties of enforcement under current law. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator…

I thank the Chair. A quick turnaround of applications seems to be far more important to the Gang of 8 than the issue of identifying people who may be a threat to public safety--criminals who may have warrants out for them and who may have…