Jim Sensenbrenner: “securing our Nation's borders is an imperative, and this bill does it. Turning off the magnet that brings people into…”

“securing our Nation's borders is an imperative, and this bill does it. Turning off the magnet that brings people into the United States to work illegally is an imperative. This bill does it. This 149-page motion to recommit, which we received a couple of minutes before the author made his motion, we have been able to look at enough of this 150 pages to see that it does not provide one bit of enhancement to the employment verification system. That is the big hole in this bill. So there is no way that employers will be able. There are no enhancements to employer verification. Mr. Speaker, throughout this debate, both yesterday and today, my friends on the minority side have been doing their best to try to make this bill unworkable, one of which was their almost unanimous support for keeping the penalties for illegal presence in the United States as a felony. Let me tell you that even though my amendment to reduce those penalties was voted down largely by people on the other side of the aisle, when this bill gets to conference, those penalties will be made workable. You can count on that. Keep immigration reform on track. To secure our borders and to have a secure employer verification system, pass this bill. Vote against the motion to recommit. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York.”