Quote

Border security is a complex issue and will remain a top priority during the 2007 legislative year. As Congress works to fix this problem, I will continue to push for strong measures that beef up security at our borders.

For the first time since 2007 there is political momentum behind fixing the immigration system. President Obama in his State of the Union speech reached out to the right-wing by saying illegal immigrants seeking citizenship will have to pay taxes, learn English and get in line behind people who are trying to enter the United States legally.

Protecting national security amounts to looking for needles in a haystack. The work becomes more difficult if the haystack is larger. Restricting immigration generally, and illegal immigration in particular, limits growth in the haystack, and supports protection of national security.

Border security is a safety issue.

The Secure Fence Act, which authorizes the construction of 700 miles of security barriers along the southwest border, has now been sent to President Bush for his signature. This piece of legislation is an important piece of the border security puzzle.

Immigration is a sensitive topic.

We want to do this methodically, smart, starting with border security then looking at immigration reform measures.

Immigration reform almost happened under President George W. Bush. Twice. And it was comprehensive.

You reduce illegal immigration by making it harder to get jobs here, or easier to get jobs south of the border. This idea that we can't pass an immigration law until we hit some imaginary security target is just a way to derail reform.

Conservatives have always wanted border security before we had immigration reform.