the clerk will read a communication to the senate washington d c june sixth two thousand and seven to the senate under the provisions of rule one paragraph three of the standing rules of the senate i hereby appoint the honorable benjamin l cardinal a senator from the state of maryland to perform the duties of the chair signed robert c byrd president pro tempore was present the majority leader's recognized as president in reading this morning's paper i was reminded of the times reading to my boys and my girl dr seuss tom friedman in today's new york times quotes dr seuss as foll then he shut the things up in the box with a hook in the cat went away but the sad kind of look that is good said the fish has gone away yes but your mother will come she will find this big mess and this mess is so big and so deep and so tall we cannot pick it up at all there is no way out at all well this present some would say that's what we have in the senate today a big mess but if you go back and read dr seuss the cat manages to clean up the mess and as big of a mess as we have with immigration in the united states we have the opportunity to clean up a big mess  if we work on a bipartisan basis next couple days we can clean up this mess if we can then we're back in the cat didn't clean up the mess in the senate didn't it's mess with immigration this president we have known for three months the time set for doing immigration people worked in good face trying to come up with a piece of legislation and they were a week short and they said we need more time and so they got more time and they came up with a bipartisan bill ten senators democrats republicans came up with an immigration bill is it a perfect bill of course not is it a good bill it's not bad at all it doesn't things i think are extremely important something that i've talked about for a long long time based on my experience it's mi old girl who couldn't go to go to college she was hispanic her parents were there illegally and this young girl couldn't go to college even though she's his best tuner class so we have in this bill the dream act it is a dream for many young americans jobs we've been talking about an ag jobs bill for years this bill has one and it's border security we've talked about the need for border security this bill provides border security employer enforcement employer sanctions this legislation has good employer sanction language good enough well we'll have to see want to improve it maybe that's right way to do things a pathway to legalization for millions of people who are here with them part of papers illegally a path to legalization the way to bring them out of the shadows that's in this legislation well this year's legislation bills on the bills on the bill passed by the senate last year after extensive committee considerations and many floor amendments this year the our lengthy bipartisan negotiations involving  about ten senators and a number of cabinet officers in addition to other people from the white house the negotiators asked for additional time we talked about that it was agreed upon we started the floor debate the week before memorial day recess during that week we disposed of more than a dozen amendments allowed an additional fourteen amendments to become pending to the bill proponents the bill asked for additional week of florida bait i agreed mine or leader minority leader said at this time this is a two week bill i agreed with him and schedule the second week of debate and that's where we are now this week we've conducted for all call votes doppler for their  and we probably would have done more but for the unfortunate death of our colleague and friend senator thomas yesterday we asked the morning we can memory of our friend has decided not to work here and that was the right thing to do  this morning we have two more votes that they're scheduled already on cornyn and kennedy regarding eligibility for the legalization program we've proposed unanimous consent agreement we did that yesterday and i understand managers have that fairly well worked out on the twelve pending amendments to have votes on those later today that was not accepted last evening but i hope i'm hopeful that that agreement can be worked out in the next little bit so it's clear we're raking in good faith the process amendments move forward on this bill my decision decision to file cloture last night was simply a way to ensure that we finish this bill in a timely manner by offering to postpone the closure a vote as i did yesterday until tomorrow night i'm offering additional full day of amendments before the cloture vote and of course during a menace are considered post cloture mr president i had a meeting in my office just a few minutes ago with a bipartisan group o senators i believe there is a good faith effort being made by a majority of senators democrats republicans and move this bill forward and that's why we're going to try to heal there are some people whether rightfully or wrongfully and that's all the eyes of the feeling they haven't had an opportunity to deal with this legislation and if that's the case let's see if we can come up with some amendments or make them happen now we do a lot of things in this body mr president by unanimous consent in fact most everything and the closure vote is scheduled tomorrow morning an hour after we come in session we can change that we can change that my it's my hope that we can finish the bill this week i feel very confident we can i personally feel an obligation to go to the funeral in wyoming craig thomas was a republican that i worked very closely with on a number of issues and i had great appreciation admiration for him and out of respect for him and susan i feel i need to go to the funerals and i'm sure many others feel the same way so that's going to change your scale you is my understanding if you know it's going to be saturday i've notified my congress me i've explained to the distinguished republican leader there may have to work longer hours and this weekend but mr president let's try to finish this bill there are some and it's a small number of people who don't want this bill finished under any circumstances but now it happens on a lot a lot of bills and we have to try to work our way through that  i would hope that people understand and i we would like to get a bill passed and we have responsibilities as senators to not only deal with immigration which is a system as i've tried to explain with little vignette from dr seuss it really is badly needed fixing but we have a lot of other problems in this country that are badly in need of fixing so we may have to work hours here the senate hasn't seen very often we may have to work into the night tonight and tomorrow night and maybe even friday and friday night and who knows if that'll be enough time to get us over the hump i would hope that people would understand if we it's not a question of how much time we spend on the bill it's a question of whether or not people feel they've had the opportunity to change the provisions that are in the bill i only i've gone over most of them ag jobs the dream act lawyers and force that legalization border security i have jobs i repeat there some of these i hope that we can get this done we can debate this bill all year and end up right back where we are the american people didn't send us your pontificate they sent us here to legislate and that's what i'm trying to do and i think most of us are trying to do so i would hope mr president that recognizing that this immigration system is broken that we need to fix it and i extend my appreciation to the senators democrats and republicans who feel that this is a time for us to do something important for the country i've said here on a number occasions this president this bill when it comes out of his body is not the last word we have other ways of working on this we as senators are going to be fully involved in the legislation until it comes out of that conference which is after the house passes a bill which will have the imprint of the white house on that also so i would hope that we can move forward in good faith and understand that everything we do in life has deadlines leadership he has provided in making sure that the united states senate was going to take this issue up he had announced in january of this year that was going to take the time for the judiciary committee to consider this legislation but that he was going to allocate two weeks of time which was basically the time that we took in the last time but it was a major period of time to consider the people's business in this and he has been accommodating in terms of working through the senate says schedule and i think for all of us who are interested in getting we want to thank him for all he's done in terms of encouraging us to reach a judgment on these various  these various measures as he has mentioned we have made a very important and significant progress and i think that there is a strong mood about here in the senate as there is in the country that theirs is extremely important issue and where we're increasingly close to trying to at least make a recommendation to the to the country about what the senate said judgment would be on this so i join with him  as as with others to say that we're eager to move ahead during the day today and tomorrow to work with the leadership we know they have full schedules for the time ahead i do think we are making a significant knows we're really ready to work with the other side and schedule votes on pending amendments i think the two managers are working together this morning to set up a schedule of votes for this afternoon all of that is a step in the right direction many of the hope to schedule however for the afternoon are amendments that were offered prior to the recess americans are in with cloture being filed last night is that we do not want to deny members who have yet to offer many of them have been denied the right to offer their amendment this week denied their right to offer their amendment will still get their opportunity prior to being shot out i'm counting progress on this bill not back calendar days that's one way of looking at it but by the ability of senators to debate and to vote on their respective ideas that's the way that would that's what i would call progress on the bill so we can clear out the amendments that are currently pending and that  will also work together to schedule debate and votes on additional amendments that are going to be offered let me just remind everyone again on the day that my conference elected me later i said i thought we ought to do two big important things at least in this congress and one of the issues i mentioned is immigration so i'm among those in the senate who would like to see us accomplish thing here on a very difficult some days same thing late intractable issue nevertheless  i'm in favor of trying to pass an immigration bill but there is going to be a widespread reluctance on this side of the aisle to go to support closure and thereby bring the bill to a conclusion unless  amendments a significant number being allowed to be considered now mr president on another subject while i'm in my later time i rise today to honor the heroic sacrifice of a fellow kentucky and a brave soldier who suffered whose who's served multiple tours in iraq he was also a proud father and grandfather who sought to protect the people in the land he loved sergeant james wu harlan was tragically killed on may the fourteenth two thousand and four when a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb next to his humvee at camp anaconda near balad iraq sergeant harlan was a native of owensboro kentucky and a member of the six hundred sixty as transportation companies eighty eight regional readiness command in the united states army reserve he was forty four years old for his heroic service sergeant harlan was awarded the silver star and the purple heart and long many other awards and medals of distinction president mentioned that sergeant harlan was brave let me elaborate on that when he was eleven years old his older sister doris was assigned a daunting task of babysitting young jimmy jimmy was  always into something she recalls sensing when two of opportunity to display his courage jimmy declared that he would jump off the of their family's house while his parents were away at first  protested but realizing that his intentions were probably only to rankle her she told jimmy fine you go ahead and do it she even went so far as to set up pillows for him to land on sure enough brave young jimmy jumped off that roof and to this day doris is surprised that he escaped without major injury of adventure carried over into his adulthood enjoyed the outdoors and would often take his kids fishing and hunting a compassionate and loving father to his five children jimmy always made sure to spend quality time with his family when everyone else was sitting around with their bellies full of thanksgiving a b outside throwing the football is brother kenny loggins recalls one of his favorite things to do is to coach baseball with his brothers when he spent time indoors he enjoyed watching all western movies with his kids his sons james brown harlan david shayne harlan and jacob alexander roberts and his daughters kara stray strachey and amount of amanda proud as well as his two stepchildren bobby and brittany gray will miss his caring and generous spirit jimmy will also be missed by two girls who might not yet realize the extraordinary sacrifice their grandfather made but  will learn it as they grow older he was especially proud of them jimi often said of his granddaughters jaden and abigail proud aren't they just the prettiest things you've ever seen civilian career was partly spent as a truck driver he enjoyed the opportunity to work on the big rigs and to say different parts of the country he would often drive with his brother kenny loggins through all that driving across the country though the two never did fine at a place they like as much as their homes town of all integral kentucky where jimmy was born and raised when jimmy left for his final tour in iraq he was working for the streets department and eligible having served for two decades in the military and reserves jimmy was a seasoned soldier his patriotism and sense of civic duty compelled him to re enlist after the terrorist attacks of september the eleventh two thousand and one and he served two tours in iraq while there jenny supervised truck drivers who transported supplies to the troops that kept anaconda his son james brown harlan offered some perspective when he remarked that nobody wants to see their father die but to have it be while doing something of this significance we're proud of him mr president i would like to take this opportunity to say that not only is his family proud of them but all of america is proud of him his heroism and sacrifice mr president sergeant james w harlan called a rig across the highways of the united states and a true course the desert sands of iraq he had an adventurous spirit and is far travels on his exemplary service were natural fit for that little boy who wants to jump off his parents ruth jimmy harlan left an inspirational example for his children and grandchildren brothers kenny li family of sergeant james w harlan in your thoughts and prayers i know they will be in mine mr president you have a floor mr president the previous order the leadership time is reserved under the previous order to senate will resume consider a s thirteen forty eight which the clerk will report counting number one forty four us thirteen forty eight a bill to provide for comprehensive immigration reform and for other purposes under the previous order there will be two hours for debate with respect to amendment number eleven eighty four as modified offered by the senator from texas mr corn and m m and offered by the senator from massachusetts mr kennedy relating to the same subject the time equally divided control between senator i just requesting thirty seconds for making an honest consent request is their objection centers record as mr president i request that the pending amendment be set aside then we call up three amendments eleven eighty seven eleven eighty eight twelve zero one and then that we return back to the pending amendment is there objection senator from massachusetts objection is heard thank you mr president i'm not sure that will take all of the time we'll have an opportunity to vote on that measure we're trying to set up a series of votes through the morning through the afternoon through the evening and what we're going to try to do is give members as much time as possible on these items rotating back and forth through the the course of the day and we will work with our our colleagues to try and accommodate that their their schedules but we have a  way so for the members what i understand that we'll have a busy and full day and we will start off with the amendment of the senator from texas eleven eighty four as i understand is an important amendment it is actually been pending was first filed two full weeks ago and it's taken this long to be able to get a vote on this amendment for which i'm grateful but i must say that as the republican leader indicated this morning the rate of progress with getting amendments debated and voted on is not promising and the fact that the majority leader is now filed for  cloture potentially cutting off the opportunity for a full and fair debate and an adequate number of votes on this bill again is not encouraging at all and one of those who would like to see a solution to this  but i think it's important that we reflect on what kind of solution we will accomplish if we are successful to me the goal is simply to restore law and order to our immigration system it's important to our national security because we have to know who's coming into our country and why people are here in a post nine eleven world it is important to public safety because we know the same broken borders that can allow people who are economic migrants to come across and also allow common criminals drug traffickers and even terrorists and it's important to our prosperity in this nation that we reestablish our heritage as a nation that believes in the rule of law we simply cannot have it that people can choose to obey some laws and disobeying other laws that is not that here it's to the rule of law that is picking and choosing cherry picking what laws you prefer you find convenient and what laws you find inconvenient and to my mind and based upon my experience with my constituents across the state of texas last week is the cause for so much distrust of the federal government when it comes to this issue the basic objection to this underlying bill is not that people don't believe there is a serious problem it's not because that people are racist or anti immigrant or nativists or know nothings or any one of the other names that sometimes people are called it is that the american people feel like we've been here before in one thousand nine hundred six they gave their trust to the federal government to actually fix this problem by granting a one time amnesty and then providing for an enforcement system that would actually be enforced against employers who hire people who cannot legally work here and they were sold a bill of goods it didn't work we got an amnesty and we got no one for that's why people are so distrustful so mr president if we are serious about restoring the rule of law i believe the first place to start would be by passing this amendment an eleven eighty four on the floor of the senate what is this amendment do well first of all this amendment would mandate that gang members cannot obtain legal status is well documented that members of m s thirteen and other gangs ultra violent gangs emanating from central america have come across our broken borders and committed terrible crimes of violence here in the united states under the underlying bill the secretary of homeland security could actually grant a waiver that would allow a gang member legal status that can't be congress should draw a line about who are willing to allow in and who we are not and we shouldn't delegate this to the secretary of the department of homeland security or the attorney general or anyone who might hold those positions in the future the next thing my amendment would do is it would address the definition of good moral character we would allow only people with good moral character as defined in the bill to obtain legal status the underlying bill does not contain a prohibition on those who are affiliated with terrorist amendment makes the commonsense change that would bar them the amendment also requires that those who apply for legalization under the bill must generally show they have good moral character third meant makes the failure of sex offenders to register and high speed flight crimes grounds of an edge of eligibility for zeevi says fourth my amendment makes repeat d w i eyes driving while intoxicated or driving under the influence an aggravated felony it's a simple fact of life mr president that repeat dui offenders or a substantial threat to the community safety they have a proven history of involvement in various serious collisions that kill maim and otherwise seriously injure innocent people when i was in texas last week i met with representatives of mothers against drunk drivers and told them about the the gaps in this underlying bill and receive the assurance at least of that representative that this was an issue that she cared passionately about and i would suggest that all of us who care passionately about public safety and decreasing the incidence of drunk driving and driving under the influence that are a threat to the public safety that those who care about decreasing that threat should vote for this amendment designating a third dui offense as an aggravated felony recognizes a serious public danger that repeat dui offenders pose to the american people and the strong need to remove from the united states those who are not legally here who repeatedly commit dui offenses the fifth category mr president is the one that i believe that there is the biggest disagreement on this has to do with so called absconders and identity thieves and this really gets to the the essence of this bill and whether we are serious about restoring the rule of law to our immigration system and why whether we are going to send a message loud and clear that while we might be willing to consider those who have entered our country without a visa who are by definition guilty of a misdemeanor or those who have come in legally and who've overstayed who are guilty of a status violation under our emigration laws while we bite be willing to consider allowing them a path to legalization and citizenship under some conditions we should not allow a path to legalization and citizenship for those who have openly defied our courts lawful orders of our courts and who have shown themselves as having no for the rule of law what kind of citizens can we expect these individuals who have been ordered deported who have had their day in court and who simply defied that court order by going on the lam and melting into the american landscape or those who have been ordered deported and who've actually been deported but then who reentered the country and mr president both of those going on the lam after you've been ordered deported and reentering after you have been actually deported are felonies under section two hundred forty three of the immigration and naturalization act a felony mr president if we are serious about restoring respect for the rule of law then we should at the very least prohibit felons and repeat offenders from getting the z visa or path to legal status including the opportunity to apply for legal permanent residency and citizenship we should be willing to draw a bright line there i have to say with all due respect that if we do not adopt this amendment then we might as well retitle this section of this bill no felon left behind because while it's clear that whether it's gang members terrorists sex offenders repeat drug drivers and these other categories there is some common ground and i congratulate senator kennedy on moving our way on this issue it completely omits the category of felons who have shown no regard for our laws and have shown themselves unwilling to live in peace with americans here in this country should they be given an opportunity but rather people who have thumb their nose myself two additional minutes center directness mr president i know we have a number of colleagues who not only are members of the world's greatest deliberative body the united states senate but also running for the highest office in our land running for president of the united states and i know there been a number of debates on the democrat side of the republican side but i believe this amendment and the vote on this amendment is a defining issue for those who seek the highest office in the land to demonstrate their respect for the rule of law and to demonstrate their desire to return law and order to our immigration system because mr president a no vote on amendment will demonstrate that we are not serious that we don't believe that the rule of law deserves respect because unfortunately under the kennedy and them at the alternative literally a fig leaf that's been offered to give people the sense that well they voted for some thing so they will have an explanation even though they have not voted to exclude these felons a state a vote yes and the corn kate that we're not serious about restoring the rule of law to our immigration system and will indicate that we are willing to allow felons and people who have no desire it's based on their experience to comply with our laws and live in peace in this country to become part of america i think we need to send a loud and clear message as to where that line should be drawn as president i would preserve the rest of our time on that is not a hypothetical it is a real case that has come to my office in chicago and i'd like to ask the senator from texas if he would consider the facts of this case and tell me how his amendment would apply to the case a family in chicago the father is a citizen of the united states and the four children that he and his wife have are all citizens of the united states the mother is on documents the mother came into the united states illegally she was married raised a family and a grandmother died in mexico she went back over the border and when she tried to re enter the united states produced identification that was false they caught her they deported her back to mexico but she made it back to the united states she's now with her family in chicago it's a case of ten a lot of publicity because she is she was deported two days before mother's day she has been allowed to return to the united it's on a humanitarian waiver to be with her family i'd like to ask the senator from texas how would you treat her under your amendment what would her status be would she be characterized as aggravated felon could she under any circumstances be given any opportunity to become legal under you men as president i'd be glad to try to answer the question it is like a lot of hypotheticals it's got a lot of twists and turns but let me let me give it a try under this amendment people who enter the country illegally and who are guilty of illegal entry or who come in legally and overstayed would not be rendered in eligible under the clinton amendment those who are repeat offenders in other words people who have entered illegally and then exit the country and reentered exited reentered are guilty of a more serious offense because they are multiple offenders and they i'm not sure whether under the hypothetical the senator asked whether this individual  barred but people who are serial offenders and violators of our immigration laws would be barred under this amendment so if i might ask the senator from texas so the senator from texas would suggest then that this mother of four citizens married to a set of some of the united states who has lived here for more than ten years i should be deported this president the  what my man would do would not be ordered her deported what it would do is say she's ineligible for his evie some i would ask the senator from texas so let's get down to the reality of the situation as far as this family is concerned where the mother has gone through the experience and i just scribed you would say that that family has to either break up or leave this president i disagree with the characterization of the senator from illinois as as this hypothetical individual is married to united states citizen she could get a waiver on the ground because she is married to a united states citizen so she would not under existing law she would not she could get a waiver and would not be deported necessarily if i might ask one last question is is that a provision in your amendment or is that in the underlying bill this president in response to the question that is a provision of current law that my amendment does think our language makes it extremely clear i think there's a real question and we're looking through the language of the senator from from texas about whether that would necessarily define that individual that was an amnesty that was a real amnesty here a great deal of in the public about what is amnesty what is an amnesty that was amnesty this legislation is not amnesty because that effect simply said that those people that were undocumented that came here were forgiven followed the basic recommendations report by the distinguished president of notre dame the hesburgh of report i remember very very clearly there were important provisions in there were but they were completely inadequate and i might remind my friend from from texas one hundred eighty six to one hundred eighty two we had a republican administration a republican president and they didn't foresee just as they have been in force the recent legislation three investigations that they've had in terms of investigating undocumented and they are the great defenders of the american voter and great defenders about immigration reform two years we had had in foresman but we did not so we are where we are today and the real question is is this legislation shouldn't we have now at the countdown down payment on national security and security internally that doesn't provide for the opportunity to those that that are here to pay the fine go to the back of the line demonstrate a good working relationship and be able to emerge out of the shadows and the ag jobs bills the dream act and other provisions of temporary program now with regards to the corn and amendment we have an immigration program in this legislation that's strong practical and fair and one of the essential elements is to bring the twelve million men women and children hardworking families out of the shadows into the sunlight of america and we know we're not going to conduct massive roundups and deport twelve million people we don't have the means to do it it would disrupt our economy flicked untold hardships on millions hardworking people it's estimated cost more than two hundred fifty billion dollars and have buses all the way from los angeles to new york and back to try and do this if it was even possible but the cornyn amendment would make vast numbers of these families in eligible for a program trying to deal with a key element of the program and that is the families  that are here it would keep them in the shadows where employers abuse and underpay them that hurts the emigrants but it hurts american workers too by depressing wages that's what we have see them out there now with the undocumented that the twelve million with a work record which is really even better in terms of percentages than the native americans people that are willing workers want to work hard but the exploitation of those individuals because every one of them knows that their boss all they have to do is go down to call the immigration service work eighty hours a week but i don't want to well i'm going to call the immigration service when you're deported and they do that in the exploited program keep them in the shadows where employers abuse and underpay them that hurts the immigrants but it hurts american where because to buy a depressing their wages the corn amendment does this by classifying a rate of common garden variety immigration offenses as crimes that would make them ineligible for the program for example the court of men says that if you come here been ordered out of the country by immigration authorities but you failed to leave or you came back here and  that's exactly what's been going on with our broken immigration system people have come to work employers want them to come and they have benefited our economy and immigration offices might find them and ordered them home but our employers them to come back and our broken borders make that possible corn and says that if you have use false identification you may be found in the midst of all and may be deported but in our broken system who have the people that have wanted to work have been forced to use the false identification that's the the reality of where we are today gordon says that he wants to be tough on gang members sex offenders individuals convicted of domestic violence so do we we have addressed any pro as part of a criminal gang will be allowed to enter or stay in this country he says we should bar sex offenders from coming here our memory does that any convicted sex offender fails to register will not be allowed back into the country already here the face deportation cornin says immigrants who commit acts of domestic violence and danger to their family should be punished our amendment does that says drunk driver should be deported armament does that any immigrant with one felony conviction for drunk driving will never be will not be allowed to enter this country and if convicted here then the drunk driver will be deported he says they should be consequences for individuals engaging in fraud argument does that our men and punishes anyone who commits perjury or makes false statements when seeking immigration benefits if any person lies on their application then the individual be prosecuted and subject to criminal penalties he says we should go after immigrants convicted of firearms offenses or amendment does that to mr president who are the people that we want to apply under our program who are the people that the court an amendment would condemn to the shadows of abuse we know that the vast majority of the families that have come over here are hardworking people who care for their children go to church and contribute to their communities in america we respect our work hard work  america so our program says if your only offense is that you came here to work you came in to provide for your family that will provide a way that you can atone for that offense and they're in the right to stay and work legally you if you're a threat to our national security a terrorist demo lock you up if you try to cheat your way into the program through fraud will deport you but if you came here to work and build a life then you can stay but first you have to meet the tough requirements you have to pay the five thousand dollars fine show a steady work history learn english get to the back of the line to get your green card and all those who have been waiting legally to get theirs cornyn amendment creates harmful barrios for refugees fleeing persecution in america we've had a long and proud tradition of providing refugee refuge to people who have faced persecution and oppression in their lands whose lives are at risk because they stood up for their beliefs we took refugees from cuba from vietnam as they fled communism we've helped people from somalia and bosnia and other areas of conflict and oppression we now and now we're beginning to help people whose lives are at risk because they helped our troops in iraq but all phonies persecuted refugees have no choice but to cooperate with their press in order to save their family's lives and enable their escape the court an amendment says if you do that if you provide what's called the cheerio support to these are precious and terrorist groups then you are not going to rescue you from the hands of your press you have to take your chances and hope your oppresses don't persecute you or even kill you or your family consider the case of a lay of the whole lane from sierra leone revolutionary united front rebels attacked your home packed one of her family members to death with a machete they said her son on fire leaving him near dead with severe burns they held her family captive raping her and her daughter and forcing them to cook forcing her to cook and wash their clothes refugee because she cooked for the rebels and wash their clothes under the corn amendment she and her family are ineligible because they provided material support for a terrorist group but that's not bad enough bars her from going to court to explain her situation and appeal the denial of her case the decision of the secretary of the attorney general is final elaine would never get her day in court to explain her tragic circumstances of her case the door to freedom in america would be closed shut end of the discussion you'll go back into the hands of your persecutors madam president surely by now we have learned that closed proceedings conducted by executive branch officials based on secret evidence without any possibility of court review are inconsistent with american traditions and inconsistent with the search for justice amendment would change the rules in midstream that is frowned on in american jurisprudence it's unconstitutional in criminal law and disfavored elsewhere people whose conduct would not have affected their immigration status at the time was committed will suddenly suffer severe consequences the retroactivity preservation simply bring home the punitive nature of this amendment it's not designed to contribute to creation of a tough but fair and practical system  it's designed to be harshly punitive this amendment would exclude hundreds of thousands from benefits of this bill and undermine the bipartisan compromise that members of this body work so long and so hard to the already tough criminal gang provisions contained in the bill if you're associated with a gang of that gang is known to be engaged in violent crimes drug crimes crimes involving firearms or explosives alien smuggling or trafficking you're not going to qualify for benefits if you're associated with a gang the gang has been engaged in crimes of violence including murder arson possession kidnapping bank robbery sexual exploitation abuse of children obstruction of justice witness tampering burglary racketeering among other crimes you're not going to be entitled to receive lawful status in this country and you aren't going to qualify for benefits this amendment also expands the already tough grounds of it invisibility and the criminal penalties in the current immigration law we target essentially the same provisions as senator corn but then in many instances go further this amendment bars the admission of sex offenders or don't register as required it makes them subject to deportation as well it ensures that white feet as child abuse is stop because another those who prey on the vulnerable are inadmissible to the united states ensures that a drunk driver who is sentenced to one year prison cannot be admitted to the us and can be removed as well our drug driving provisions which require only one felony conviction need more restrictive than sen corner which requires three convictions before a drunk driver becomes inadmissible we increase the penalties for illegal entry we ensure that immigration fraud is subject to perjury charges and we toughened the penalties for firearms offenses we are tough but we are practical too and that is where this side by side differs from senator cornin provisions are bright line rules he turns many of these criminal offenses into aggregated felonies that's just immigration speak for you will never ever ever be forgiven for many offenses such as murder that's more than a reasonable consequence of murder should become u s citizens under the current law they can never become a citizen but most immigrants are not murderous they are people who have entered the us illegally and under the senate a core an amendment they could be aggravated felons to as a practical matter centocor and doesn't want us to distinguish between murder and illegal entry but that's not practical nor does it reflect our criminal justice system so it is true that we build in small but important waivers that in extraordinary circumstances would give someone a second chance not murderous but someone who had lot to go as made a mistake just this week i received a letter about a young man named adrian a former gang member in massachusetts has turned his life around adrian went from a life of juvenile delinquency to that of a dedicated student one who works full time now in hopes of going to college principals and his teachers praise him for his hard work his commitment to family his newfound motivation to go to college they want him to have a chance to stay in this country the author of the letter then says it is very very hard thing to leave the gang life  d there are other adrian's out there as well who have made the same decision regardless of the difficulty it is the message this country wants to send them that what they have done is unforgivable regardless of whatever changes they may have courageously courageously made is that the message within the country gained by having an incentive in law that might attract young people to leave gang life and move their lives forward to a very different way wouldn't it be helpful to the country to have a waiver that a person who could apply for if they can prove they've left a gang and provided evidence on how they've moved on every change in our immigration law represents a statement about who we are as a country we a country that takes individual circumstances into account or are we a country that punishes with no regard for individual circumstances we can be tough on crime and yet retain a level of discretion in our immigration laws this is the crux of the difference between what i am suggesting to the senate and what senator cornyn has proposed that makes a measure of distinction that measure of distinction is every bit as much a tool of law enforcement senator from massachusetts we might go back and forth across the aisle we have we have a speaker on our side as well and i'm like recognized for up to ten minutes is that w iraq in strong support of the corn and a man and an opposition to the much weaker watered down democratic alternative madam president i think this amendment illustrates a lot about this debate the corn amendment is clear it's necessary it's common sense and it's absolutely necessary we pass amendments like this and have the ability to debate and vote on amendments like this this very important immigration debate this amendment again is very straightforward it prevents terrorists gang members sex offenders other folks who have broken the law in significant ways committed significant found felonies from receiving immigration benefits and citizenship in the future how can any of us in the senate oppose that very straightforward and that's the scary and common sense  how can any of us be care comfortable with an underlying bill which has these gaping loopholes we must address these gaping loopholes how can we stand here and tell families across america that no we're going to allow sex offenders to hang them to become legal residents possibly citizens center of quantum's amendment would prevent this would address all of the significant loopholes again  coming into the country illegally and every entered illegally all of those categories of illegals should be prevented from gaining the benefits of this bill senator corns amendment clearly does that the allows those who have been deported from the country and who come back in illegally to get the benefits of this bill that allows other who fall into the category of gang members and those who commit serious felonies to gain the benefits of this bill that is simply wrong so we must support the common sense straightforward corner m m m madam present i also want to spend a portion of my time urging my colleagues to not vote for cloture on this bill as it presently rest before us because we have many many important amendments to consider on this bill and two of those in my opinion are two amendments i humbly bring to the senate floor there are important issues there are important amendments and i urge us to pay careful consideration for them and to have an opportunity for debate and vote so in that noted very sorry to hear that madam president let me drive my second amendment which is also at the desk also concerns a significant provision in the bill which i think we need the opportunity to debate and vote on and point about the inappropriateness of cloture very very clearly these are two significant amendments that go to important provisions of the bill and all of us and more importantly the american people deserve to have these matters debated and then voted on let me explain what these amendments are about everybody on the floor certainly the majority side has i've been given these amendments my first amendment only requires what congress originally mandated way back in nineteen eighty six and that is the entry exit system known today as u s visit we must have that fully operational before all aspects of this bill are allowed to go into effect amount of president was authorized ten years ago but it's not near to being fully operational now and we must make sure that it is a part of this pales in forstmann trigger without the u s visit systems completion we can't be sure that we know what individuals are in the country in fact we can be sure that we will not know because how can we possibly have a grasp of who's in the country and who is not in the temporary without this system that tracks people as they exit the conference there are a lot of folks on visas who are here for a limited period of time under that visa they of course need to exit the country before their visa is up this u s visit system allows us to know if they're doing that or not doing that so how can we possibly be ready for the full implementation of this bill how can we possibly say that we have the enforcement system we need in place without this u s visit system without knowing who exits the country when without knowing if they have overstayed their visa or not as up two thousand and six illegal population included four to five and a half million overstays people in this country illegally because they're overstaying the time limits of their visa least this u s visit system is absolutely necessary to get to the heart that's a problem and to inforce against overstays so how can we say we're having adequate enforcement how can we trigger the other provisions of this bill without making sure we have that emplace functioning  operational u s visit system isn't any part of the triggers in the bill now it must be and that's what my amendment thirteen thirty nine goes to as i mentioned mount a present i have another amendment a member number thirteen thirty eight and that would correct the provision in this bill which doesn't allow for a catch and release program anymore but simply changes that  pay and release program under the bill when a president in this bill those in this country illegally who are caught and who are not from mexico don't have to be kept in custody they can be released on a five thousand dollar bomb now for months and indeed years all of us on the senate floor and around the country have decried the catch and release program this program that has been in place where illegals are caught but are released into our country and simply given a piece of paper that says show up to court on such and such a day guess what they never do well this bill merely changes that to a catch pay and release program it allows catch and release to continue only with a five thousand dollars balance was not a problem it's because many of the folks we're talking about particularly those who are among the most dangerous those involved in illegal drug activity those in other organized crime can get the five thousand dollars bond if they're already human smugglers to get them across the border in many cases thousands and thousands of dollars one has to assume that they can get the resources to pay this bomb so changing catch and release to catch pain rel completely inadequate and yet that is what the underlying bill does on the senate floor my amendment number thirteen thirty eight would close that loophole would say no we're going to catch and release forever and we're not to allow catch and release when we catch these folks coming into the country illegally we want from mexico so we can simply send them back to mexico the southern border we're going to detain them we're not to let them into the country on a bond or anything else we're going to detain them until they're deported and we're going to work very hard to deport them as quickly as possible now madam president again i believe my two amendments which have not been allowed to be pending clearly illustrate why we are not ready for cloture on this bill this is a very very significant and that debate this is a massive eight hundred page bill this bill if enacted will affect our country in major and significant ways for decades to come everybody admits that no matter what side of the debate you may be on and yet and yet we've only been allowed to have a modest number of votes on the spill something on the order of twelve the president the senator has used his time thank you madam president that's ridiculous madam president we need these sorts of moments considered and voted on and we must oppose cloture until that happens to yield time mr president we've tried to work out with the orderly process i think we  madam president this is my first time speaking on the floor since the passing of our colleague senator thomas and i know we are all very conscious of the death draped in black across the way next to senator cornin and i would just like to before i speak extend my condolences to his many friends my many esteemed colleagues who knew and admired senator thomas and who mourn his loss i know he will be sorely missed by his friends here in the senate and his friends and family in his native state of wyoming but i rise today to address amendment number eleven eighty four offered by my friend from texas my former attorney general colleague senator cornyn i will oppose th amendment it is not entirely without merit in every one of its many dimensions but it would undercut fundamental principles of due process which are a longstanding and vital hallmark of our legal system now i fully support the creation of new grounds for and admissibility to the united states for convicted sex offenders gang members repeat dui offenders and for individuals who've been convicted of firearms offenses and domestic violence i have prosecuted these crimes and i have a first hand understanding of how dangerous these criminals are simply stated america's door and should not be open to people who commit such crimes and if senator cornyn believe there are loopholes i'm happy to plug them but i would note the director of homeland six secretary homeland security the attorney general the president and others seem satisfied for that reason though i will support the alternative amendment offered by senator kennedy which would add these offenses and others to the grounds for inadmiss ibility but there is a right way to ensure that dangerous criminals don't enter the country and there is a wrong way unfortunately the amendment we are debating goes about it the wrong way let me explain under the immigration and nationality act good moral character is a prerequisite for a variety of benefits and privileges the most important being naturalization therefore the law lists a series of characteristics which exclude a person from this definition of good moral character for example a person whose income a drive principally from gambling or one who has given false testimony for the purpose of obtaining benefits or one who has been convicted of an aggravated felony this of course makes perfect sense these individuals of the general rule should not get on a path to naturalization but this amendment would change the definition of good moral character in a very novel and unsettling way it would exclude from that definition one who the secretary of homeland security or the attorney general term ns in the unreviewable discretion of the secretary or the attorney general to have been at any time an alien described in terrorist activity and any other unlawful activity anyone convicted of such offenses or even indicted of such offenses should of course be excludable but that is not what this amendment says amendment would give the secretary of homeland security and the attorney general on reviewable discretion to make a determination as to good moral character first as i've previously said on this floor i am not inclined to expand the powers of the current attorney general in any substantive way much less to expand his power to make important unreviewable decisions but setting aside my grave hesitation about this particular attorney general as a general rule i don't believe that we ought to prevent judges from reviewing important decisions which can affect life liberty and property this would violate one of the most fundamental principles of american democracy judicial review a principle we have honored for centuries the second issue is even more unsettling that is under the proposed amendment a person could be determined to lack good moral character if the unreviewable decision is made that he or she is described in these two specific sections of the immigration code described in mr president a president what exactly does it mean to be described in a statute not convicted under a statute not in violation of a statute not indicted under a statute but merely described in it who knows what it means i have found no precedent for this formulation is it really consistent with american values to grant the attorney general and the secretary of homeland security the unreviewable discretion to just say that a person is described in those statutes the  unreviewable power to just say that somebody is engaged in unlawful activity and the un reviewable power to then deny them the benefits and privileges of american law that's not my experience as a prosecutor i found due process to the important and valuable and the amendment doesn't stop there it would allow this unreviewable discretion to be based on evidence which the accused would never have the opportunity to confront madam president like you i have spent my professional life in the american legal system a good deal of it i spent as a u s attorney and as an attorney general and my experience is that our american system of law stands on some fundamental principles among them that people can be aware of the charges brought against them that people have an opportunity to confront the evidence used against them that the prosecution and the judge are not rolled into one and that we have judicial review of important decisions affecting people's rights and privileges these are basic principles they represent core american values i don't know why we have to keep getting up to defend this this is bedrock stuff from the suspension of habeas corpus to the administration's legal defense of torture to extraordinary rendition and so on we have seen relentless efforts to chip away at bedrock principles of american law with this amendment there they go again of course we must do everything proper and necessary to protect our borders and keep americans safe but to throw out the separation between prosecution and judge to throw out the opportunity to understand and explain evidence used against you to throw out our ancient principle of judicial review to allow government officials to take away rights and privileges without answering to anyone i don't think  these principles are too dear to be thrown away so lightly our country has been through a lot over the years and these principles have survived and flourished to live today in our hands in our stewardship to protect and to pass on just as they were passed on to us i don't think this i'm an immigration issue is so terrifying that we need throw these principles away now over immigration madam president we are made of sterner stuff than that i ask my colleagues to oppose senator corn and cement number eleven eighty four i thank senator kennedy and i yield the floor united states of america we decide who comes in and who does not that is a core principle of sovereignty every nation in the world makes the decisions if they're functioning state and you then allow people to enter your term all whatever conditions they may be committed condition maybe you can and as long as you're enrolled in a c that is if you say someone can't come here you have violated the laws of america if you if you say you can come to america but not if you have a history of being a sexual predator but right does that violate what principle american law does that violate as the guest nine we have every right to insist and ensure that the immigration system of the united states serves the national interest and the natural interest mangy don't bring people you know allow people to continue to stay in our country are to come to our country who have repeat do you guys who sell drugs all who are associated with terrorists have a sick is that nobody has a constitutional legal right to demand entry into the united states of america how much vul basic can it be than that so that's where we confused here it amazes me the lack of understanding and comprehension that what it's all about we set the standards and we have the most generous emigration laws of almost any country in the world it's been a big part of our heritage we're not going to end immigration nobody wants to do that ought to act irrationally our are so forth but dissent reasonable standards as s conan is attempting to do with his amendment only makes common sense for example i've mentioned in some of the loopholes and he fixes it now i give him every bit of credit for this far standing firm for insisting on this vote after he's been objected to in objected to and blocked from getting its vote but he stood firm on this and he's going to fix a number the problems i've just want to briefly mention so why would you want to give that to somebody who sexually abused a man or well the challenge last year who committed the crime before this bill is enacted is not barred from getting amnesty if their conviction document omitted the age of the objection to it they fix that for the future but did not fix it for the past our current convictions so i think senator coburn is correct and i support that portion have any suggestion that someone in this country now here was to come here is connected to terrorists they don't have to be admitted what kind of right do they have the demand to be admitted if i state good character but last year's bill let me just say this on the terrorism question specifically barred aliens with terrorism connections from having that  require our good moral character to enter the united states that's one of the things we cite you can't come here unless you have good moral character you can't come here if you're a felon a thief a drug dealer or a child molester surely we that would make sense so this bill emanated that another example surprisingly of this bill being weaker even than last year's vitally flawed bill the bill's drafters have ignored the bush administration's request that changes be made to the asylum cancellation of removal and withholding of removal statutes in order to prevent aliens with terrorist connections from receiving relief the bill draft is what followed about this bottom bush administration and urged to put different language in and they refused to do so for reasons i cannot fathom but it began to show a certain men set and i think that man said is that we're somehow here to represent fable you want to come in that country and stay in our country instead of representing the american people and the interest of the united states last year we had good moral character as a requirement and good moral character and evolved not being connected to terrorists but according to a current law and alien cannot have good moral character if they are or have bitch a will drunkard majority of their income comes from illegal a current law we have but this year's bill completely is completely missing the new terrorism bars there were in last year's bill and the bill no longer requires good moral character law on of the bail being in a violent gang is not going to prevent you from qualifying for amnesty the bail requires and the applicant to list the list you're required to list the gang membership on your application and then you get member of a valid international gang such as marseille but to your thirteen m s thirteen why don't we say that block him or her from being eligible for the amnesty in the bill lauded united states should be the requirement not loaded to some outlaw gang that involves violence and so forth but proudly madam president just on the night before last i happened to turn on c span and catch a  national press car club conference by series law enforcement officers involved in the border patrol fall much chairman of the border patrol and a war for rouse us in their criticism of this bail hours really surprised how strongly they felt about it hugh bryan himself an immigrant was chief of the border patrol from eighty six to eighty nine how the bill a sellout a complete betrayal of the nation i slap in the face to millions of americans who come here legally like he had done and he said and nineteen eighty six he recalled quote masters mandarin promised it would work and of course eighty six didn't he also said based on his experience and many years with the border patrol quote it's a disaster c an't land here in the national chairman of the association of former border patrol officers said this there are no meaningful criminal or terrorist checks close in the legislation and he noted that  you madam madam president and first i want to salute my colleague from massachusetts for his daunted courageous and effective leadership on this issue one of the most difficult issues we face and i think he has the respect of everybody in this body for that the senator from massachusetts does whether they agree or disagree with the bill now i rise in opposition to the cornyn amendment and in support of the kennedy alternative number thirteen thirty three there are certainly attractive parts of the cornyn amendment but the good parts of the amendment are buried in complicated language that strikes at the heart of the comprehensive immigration bill that many of us are working hard to pass at a minimum my colleagues amendment would have the effect of stripping the path to citizenship one of the mainstays of the compromise the main one of the two mainstays of the compromise out of the bill altogether this body has already rejected that approach outright it ought not do it now by stealth it is a trojan horse nothing short of an attempt to kill the whole bill in the guise of tough enforcement my colleagues know when it comes to tough enforcement whether it's on immigrants citizens or anyone else i don't yield to anybody i'm a tough on crime guy i come from an area that was ravaged by crime in the works of the federal government state government and city government help make the communities that i represent much safer but this what we do in the kennedy amendment is keep the tough enforcement without killing the bill let me repeat that what we do in this amendment is keep the tough enforcement it's all there but we don't kill the bill we don't eliminate the path to citizenship which is of course what the cornyn amendment does and may well be intended to do if we're serious about passing the best possible bill and passing a bill that makes good sense we should support the kennedy amendment and not throw out the baby with the bathwater we all want to build that is tough on people who've broken the law we all want to build it keeps people who shouldn't be let into the united states in the first place from coming here senator kennedy's amendment is both tough and smart it changes the laws to prevent the worst criminals from getting into the country and kicks out people who shouldn't be here and it picks out the best parts of the corn an amendment and leaves out the worst like senator coburn's amendment senator kennedy's amendment says that any new participated in a criminal gang in any way shape or form can't come live in the united states period doesn't wait for a felony conviction or anything else you're in a gang you can't come in you can't become a citizen any immigrant in the united states who has been a member of a gang can be deported that's how it should be also senator kennedy's amendment cracks down on gang members who violate a gun laws understand it it can ease in men men allianz who have committed the horrible crimes of domestic violence talking child abuse child neglect child abandonment then sent to jail for a year are barred from moving to the country or from attempting to naturalized as citizens the amendment provides that sex offenders who don't register can emigrate or come work here and convicted sex offenders who don't register get deported the amendment would keep drunk drivers from emigrating to the united states just one felony conviction for drunk driving in your past year out people who would try to sneak into the country illegally cross the border allied immigration agents will face the pines and jail time as the bill provides as this body ratified last week and the amendment has tough penalties for repeat offenders an who tries to enter the country after being convicted of a serious penalty can face up to twenty years in jail after the amendments so this is one tough amendment but again it doesn't see by stealth as the cornyn amendment does to just eliminate the bill all together some of the things in this amendment are exactly like the language in senator according to senator kennedy's amendment takes the best of the court an amendment and leaves out the parts that will time i'm there from pennsylvania involved interpreted greatly we didn't always agree on a number of items but very sincere very studious very thoughtful and very constructive and he continues in that role although it is evident there are some differences as to harm but i commend the senator from texas for what he has done and for what he continues to do here i'm  and while i might be inclined to agree with the senator from texas on some of the specifics that he has or numerated which would be part of citizenship there was a tremendous amount of give and take  lengthy consultation with about a dozen senators participating prints and there are a number of specifics that i would side with respect to the amendment by the senator from texas which i think  driving a crime of violence well it may be a crime of violence or it may not be a crime of violence but the alternative which has been proposed what makes the drunk driving  grounds for inadmissibility and portability providing the alien serve at least here in prison for my days just like your journey i've seen quite a number of cases involving drunken driving for example and while i don't can tell on multiple convictions i think it is a more appropriate grounds that there would be an admissibility or de portability if it was serious enough to call for a year in jail of a amendment offered by the senator from texas also strips judicial review of findings that an alien has by or on national security grounds and from what we have seen about this issue in many contacts there needs to be judicial review although in a different objects in the last few support or prevent citizenship for someone who has never violated a protective order well it's a good bit more complicated than that and the alternative amendment provides that there would be an analysis but it would exclude people convicted of a felony domestic violation but there would be a consideration as to whether on a protective order the alien was acting in self defense and other considerations and factors and most fundamentally the court an amendment would strip the authority of the department of and that discretion which is lodged in the alternative and able to have a full review the facts are really to look beyond some of the technical  ominous on their stage but when there is a detailed review as to what has happened on the underlying factors there ought not to be a disability or deportation and that discretion to remain with  responsible officials in the department of homeland security and the department of justice it is for those reasons but fundamentally because they pending legislation was crafted with a great many compromises that we have had a statement by the majority leader that if cloture is not an vote tomorrow at six o'clock that he will take down this bill i think for example and the hundred ninth congress we worked the bill through the committee we did not work this bill through the committee and that was a leadership decision and i have stated on the floor on several occasions the concern of not having gone through committee but it was probably a mistake well if this bill is taken down because we haven't made sufficient progress in the eyes of the majority leader there is no doubt it would have been a mistake because had we gone through a committee we would have worked through so many of these issues which we have had a legislate on the floor through laboriously until the evening when we reported out a bill and that's what happened during the markup six days of markup and it's a maybe where as i say we considered some fifty nine amendments but then when we moved to the floor we had twelve days on the on the bill we had four days before cloture failed and then we came back with contrast that with what we have had up to the present time we've been on the bill and three of those days were mondays or fridays pro forma without voting and we've only had five days where we have been involved in voting and even voters today as they have not been as productive as voting days were on the veil and one hundred because we've been in quorum call we've been negotiating moving trying to work through issues that had this bill gone through committee would have been resolved some time ago so you have a comparison  here really five days plus three days of pro forma at the most contrasted with twelve days before and it's really more accurately a comparison of twelve to five twelve in the last congress where we have also had a tremendous amount of senators time and time of the secretary of commerce and the secretary of homeland security we met  for two hours on tuesdays wednesdays and thursdays and sometimes on mondays and fridays as well over a ten week period it is hard to calculate how many hours were put in by senators but i think it shows ends of the files and it is hard to calculate how much time was put in by the two secretaries but i think that goes into the hundreds and if you're talking about paraphrasing that churchill's blood sweat and tears may be more than blood and sweat but we've come a long long way and we've already seen on this floor a lot of finger pointing we seem to be a republicans blaming democrats and the majority leader for pulling down the bill and democrats blaming republicans for a lot of yellow tory amendments the majority leader has said these amendments are  designed to kill the bill the people offering the amendments don't have any intention of voting for the bill while senators who offer amendments don't have to have intentions of voting for the big senators can offer amendments because they're done end up if this bill is polled but more important way of end of the work which has been done is we're with the emigration bastion the united states we have twelve million undocumented immigrants we don't know where they are we don't know what risk we can't deport them all we have a porous border if we don't have comprehensive immigration reform we're not going to put up all the fencing we're not going to put up all the barriers we're not going to put up all the additional people the administration has made some commitments and will be more about how will guarantee that those funds will be spent we're all going to go through with employer verification we're not going to spend the money on employers can say who is legal and who is not legal so we have a basis for imposing tough sanctions including jail we're not going to eliminate the magnet to bring more people in it will be a colossal failure i think it's safe to say that the united states senate would be the laughing stock of the country if after all of the hyperbole and all of the published today all of the proposals and objections we're not able to finish this bill and it doesn't have to be finished this week madam president there was next week and we are not known for necessarily  using the full week we vote very infrequently on mondays almost never on fridays of the evening session is not really practiced around here when i came to the senate with howard baker we used to have a lot  we have a follow on amendments which we are hopeful the senate demand and hopefully send to bingaman and if we can work those out in the next twenty minutes or so maybe we can get you going to get the stack votes but we're going to otherwise plan to have these two senator from texas that president we've got a number of speakers comment i want to first say how much i appreciate the wise comments of the senator from pennsylvania and i'm not talking about the part where he was complimentary of me i'm talking about his comments on the assess and the difficulty since this bill came to the floor without going through committee of providing an adequate opportunity for debate and amendment and we've all tried to work our way through this but i do concur that it is a terrible mistake in judgment to seek to close off debate on this bill before an adequate opportunity for votes occurs we've had by m i could be off one or two nine nine roll call votes on this bill just back way of comparison when the mccain kennedy bill which later became the hegel martinez bill was on the floor last year we had i believe thirty two roll call votes and so we need to have an adequate opportunity to flesh this out because as we've seen here some of these details get very technical but they have a profound consequence in terms  of of of the outcome and let me just speak to some of the specific so items that have been raised here as i as we pointed out first there will be a vote on the kennedy bill  kennedy amendment and then there'll be a a vote on the cornyn amendment i would with all due respect call the first one a watered down version of the second one and and i'll point out that the difference in part the kennedy bill would still allow waivers to allow members of gangs to become legalized under the provisions of this bill the kennedy bill would still allow sex offenders to  get to not be barred if they were sentence for less than six months the kennedy bill would still allow waivers for firearm offenses that is allow people who have been convicted of firearms offenses to get a waiver to be allowed legal status my amendment covers the s who are associated with terrorist organizations those innocents referred to under the material support provision are covered by waiver executed by the department of state and department of homeland security but as we conceal this is gets exceedingly technical but let me just focus on sex offenders by way of an example to point out why these differences are important my amendment would bar those who have failed to register as sex offenders from becoming eligible for a z visa and a legal permanent residency status and a path american citizenship we've spoken in congress on this issue through such legislation as the adam walsh act and we've made it clear that we will monitor and lock up those sex offenders who don't follow the rules and bar sex offenders from bringing individuals into the country who they may also harm yet the amendment offered by the distinguished senator from massachusetts senator kennedy would still give those sex offenders who fail to register a loophole to exploit if they can plea bargain their case to less than six months and the maximum penalty for the underlying offense is no more than one year now all of us who've had some experience in the legal system particularly with the criminal laws system understand that the plea bargains are a way of life and it may well be that a very serious sex offender will a plea bargain an indictment against him or her to less than six months and still be allowed entry into the united states under the kennedy amendment here's what the kitty amendment does on page twenty of the amendment modifies the exceptions to the criminal bars to admissibility by adding failure to register as a sex offender and firearm offenses to the list of fences excepted from the criminal bars to admissibility why madam president would we allow this loop we just got this amendment last night of course and we haven't been able to survey the sex offender registry laws of all fifty states but we know there's at least one state the state of new york where a first time to register a conviction is a class a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year my simple question is to my colleagues why would we want to provide a loophole for sex offenders and allow them to gain the benefits under this bill by being eligible for a path to legal permanent residency potentially an american citizenship my amendment makes clear unlike the kennedy memet that all these loopholes are closed and this is not possible i can imagine that the american people would feel like among the many other people who are arguably worthy of gaining benefits under this bill that we would want to demean what we are doing here by providing these benefits to people who so clearly have shown themselves unworthy of getting those benefits i would just point out madam president you know i know we've had a big debate in this country and in the senate