Political Quotes

“Now, we should be clear what the provisions of the bill do and what they and our amendment do not concern. These are not provisions that cover alien terrorists. It is safe to say that there is not a single Member of this body who wants to allow alien terrorists into our midst. That is not a partisan issue; every single Member of this body is against terrorists. We can accept that as a point of fact. There are a number of other provisions in the antiterrorism law that the President signed last week that cover the exclusion of those affiliated with foreign terrorist organizations. They forbid the grant of asylum to alien terrorists. We are not seeking to defend alien smuggling or false documentation used for that purpose. That is already a crime. Senators DeWine, Hatfield, Kerry, and I totally agree on that. But we know that there are some circumstances and there are some oppressive regimes in the world from which escape may well entail the use of false papers. We want to make sure that we do not create barriers to true refugees and those deserving asylum, and prevent them from making an application for asylum.”