{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2004-12-08-pt1-PgS12012-2", "2004-12-08", 108, 2, null, null, "INTELLIGENCE REFORM BILL AND COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM", "SENATE", "SENATE", "ALLOTHER", "S12012", "S12013", "[{\"name\": \"John Cornyn\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", null, "150 Cong. Rec. S12012", "Congressional Record, Volume 150 Issue 139 (Wednesday, December 8, 2004)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 139 (Wednesday, December 8, 2004)]\n[Senate]\n[Pages S12012-S12013]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n     INTELLIGENCE REFORM BILL AND COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM\n\n  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I want to say a few words about what we\nhave done here today in passing the intelligence reform bill and say\nthat I support this effort. It was a difficult but necessary step to\nmaking America safer.\n  I do not believe we should fool ourselves to think we have actually\nfinished the job. By that I mean I think some of the objections that\nhad been made to this legislation or I should say some of the proposals\nfor additional measures that were excluded from this bill, I believe,\nwere well taken. Specifically, what I am talking about is some of the\nsecurity challenges relative to our immigration system, our broken\nimmigration system.\n  I know many Americans would be shocked to learn that the 19 9/11\nhijackers had a total of 63 validly-issued U.S. driver's licenses.\nBecause of this astounding fact, the 9/11 Commission recommended, on\npage 390:\n\n       The federal government should set standards for the\n     issuance of birth certificates and sources of identification,\n     such as driver's licenses. Fraud in identification documents\n     is no longer just a problem of theft.\n\n  The Commissioners aptly pointed out that ``For terrorists, travel\ndocuments [can be just] as important as weapons.''\n  I am pleased the conference report that we have voted on today and\npassed overwhelmingly includes some needed enforcement measures. But,\nas I say, I do not believe we should stop there. I strongly believe\nthat issuing driver's licenses to individuals who are not lawfully\npresent in our country has the potential of posing a national security\nrisk in a post-9/11 world.\n  The example I just mentioned about the 9/11 terrorists: It is well\ndocumented that Mohamed Atta had a driver's license that was valid\nbeyond the date of the expiration of his visa. Inasmuch as he had been\nstopped for an ordinary traffic violation, a lapsed driver's license,\nif its lapse was concurrent with the end of his visa, would perhaps\nhave raised a signal which would have caused some additional questions\nto be answered. Of course, I do not want to speculate what the outcome\nof that would be, but it makes sense to me, and I think it makes sense\nto most people, that why in the world would you issue a driver's\nlicense to someone who is not lawfully present or allow that driver's\nlicense to extend beyond the date of their visa?\n  Driver's licenses, after all, are used for access to airplanes all\nacross this Nation; therefore, invalid driver's licenses held by\nsomeone not lawfully present, or perhaps even fraudulent documentation,\npose a potential terrorist threat. We know that documents like a\ndriver's license also function as a breeder document that is used to\nobtain other official documents, blurring the line between those who\nare in the United States legally and those who are not lawfully\npresent. Without strong standards for driver's licenses, we ignore the\nclear security threat of fraudulent documents.\n  For all these reasons, I submit that our work here is not yet\nfinished until we begin to address this potential threat.\n  We are a nation of immigrants, but we are, at the same time, a nation\nof laws, or at least we claim to be. But when America fails to enforce\nits own laws, it becomes more and more difficult to claim, with a\nstraight face, that we are indeed a nation of laws.\n  We should have no qualms and make no excuses to anyone about\nenforcing our laws in pursuit of our Nation's security, and as the\nCommissioners of the 9/11 Commission pointed out, immigration reform\ngoes hand in hand with protecting our security. We should not allow\nourselves to be distracted or our attention to be diverted from these\ncritical issues. No, Mr. President, border security is not anti-\nimmigrant. As Speaker Hastert has said:\n\n       Immigrants to America are as victimized by terrorists as\n     American citizens.\n\n  I hope we will work promptly next year to carefully reconsider the\nenforcement measures included in the House bill that are not included\nin today's conference report.\n  Let me mention some of those provisions in the bill that was passed\nby the House but which are not included in the conference agreement\nthat we have passed.\n  No. 1, the House required, but this bill does not include, a\nrequirement that applicants for driver's licenses show proof of legal\nstatus in the United States. It does not contain the House requirement\nthat temporary licenses should include a requirement that a license\nterm should expire on the same date as a visa or other temporary lawful\npresence authorizing document and that the face of the card should show\nthe expiration date.\n  This bill does not require, but we should require in future\nlegislation, that the Department of Homeland Security certify that\nStates have met minimum driver's license issuance and document\nstandards.\n  This bill does not contain, but should contain, or at least future\nlegislation should contain, provisions providing for the electronic\nconfirmation by State motor vehicle departments of the validity of\nother States' driver's licenses and information.\n  This conference report does not contain but should contain and I hope\nfuture legislation will require that half of our new immigration\ninvestigators should focus on enforcing our existing immigration laws\nand requiring that each State receive at least three of the new State\nimmigration investigators.\n  We should also require limits on judicial review of visa revocations.\nWe should make it more difficult for terrorists and foreign criminals\nto win delays of their removal from the United States. We should\nexplicitly require verification of certain information--such as\nidentity, mother's maiden name, or other information--for the issuance\nof birth certificates accepted by a Federal agency. And we should\nrequire that the States adopt standardized practices for how they\nsecure vital records offices.\n  Mr. President, I believe that common sense tells us that each of\nthese provisions should be the law of the land, and I regret they were\nnot able to be included in this legislation. But certainly all that\nmeans is that our work is not yet done, and we have much left to do.\n  I support the measures in the House bill that I have mentioned that\nwere not included in this conference report. But the truth is, we need\ncomprehensive immigration reform. I come from a border State, one with\na 1,200-mile border with Mexico, and we know that\n\n[[Page S12013]]\n\nMexico's back door is the front door to Central America and beyond into\nSouth America, and that many of our immigration challenges come from\nsouth of the Texas border, which is, of course, an international border\nbetween the United States and our neighbor Mexico. It is well\ndocumented that we have approximately 10 million people who are\nillegally in this country who have come from south of the border and\nother places around the world.\n\n  Here again, I don't know how we can say with a straight face that we\nare a nation of laws while at the same time ignoring this fact. I know\nit won't be easy. Indeed, like so many other challenges that face our\nNation, few of these issues are easy.\n  I know next year we will be dealing with things such as Social\nSecurity reform, tax simplification, and winning the war on terrorism.\nNone of those issues are easy, but we don't give that as an excuse for\nfailing to do our duty as Senators. I hope we will not make weak and\nempty excuses for failing to do our duty when it comes to immigration\nreform.\n  The need for immigration reform is apparent when we look at the\nchallenges we confront in a post-9/11 world. There are some who say: We\ncan solve our immigration problems by building a wall between the\nUnited States and Mexico or we could do it by deploying troops along\nour border.\n  That is a vain hope and expectation, if indeed people are truly\nserious about that. The fact is, when you have one of the poorer\nnations of the world right next door to the richest nation, people who\nhave no hope and no opportunity where they live will do whatever it\ntakes to provide hope and opportunity to their families. You cannot\nbuild a wall high enough or wide enough to keep people out of this\ncountry who know only despair and who have no opportunity where they\nlive.\n  I believe we need to deal comprehensively with this issue in a\npragmatic way, a way that allows us to call ourselves a nation of laws,\nand create a legal framework that allows us to deal with the present\nreality of our reliance on immigrant labor, some 6 million in the\nworkforce in America doing jobs in many instances that American\ncitizens would not want to do.\n  All you have to do is travel to construction sites all across the\ncountry. Go to the hotels, the restaurants, to the lawn service\ncompanies, whatever the nature of the business may be, you will find--\nand we know they are there--immigrants who have come from other\ncountries who ask for nothing more than the opportunity to work. We\nneed and rely on that labor.\n  At the same time the demands of homeland security cry out for an\naccounting of who is in our country and why they are here. While I\nsuspect--indeed I believe--the vast majority of these people who have\ncome here illegally are here because they want nothing more than to\nwork and the opportunity to provide for their families, what we need to\ndo is account for everyone who is here, why they are here, what their\nintentions are, and to make sure that those who are a threat to our\ncountry are deported or not allowed to come into our country in the\nfirst place.\n  In order to deal with this issue--both our homeland security, our\nborder security, and our economic reliance on the contributions that\nimmigrant labor provides and that are important to our economy--we need\nto approach this entire question with a dose of common sense and\npragmatism that unfortunately has been missing for so long.\n  Most of the people who talk about immigration today, I am afraid to\nsay, are special interest groups that try to scare the American people\nor, frankly, misrepresent the facts about this important issue.\nComprehensive immigration reform will allow our law enforcement\nofficials to concentrate on those who are indeed a threat while\nacknowledging the contributions that immigrants make to our economy,\nbut under a lawful framework which allows us to regain our status as a\nnation of laws.\n  To that end, last summer, I introduced the Border Security and\nImmigration Reform Act that would create a temporary worker program,\nallowing immigrants to work in the United States for a limited time,\nthen return to their home country with the skills and the savings that\nthey have earned. The most important aspect of that bill is that it is\na work and return program. It is not a pathway to legal permanent\nresidency in the United States, nor is it a pathway to citizenship.\n\n  It is not amnesty. I would not support a bill that provides amnesty\nfor those who are not lawfully present in the United States. I believe\nwhat this does is address both the reality on the ground in places such\nas my State and even the great State of Montana, represented by the\ncurrent occupant of the chair. Immigrants make a tremendous\ncontribution to the workforce and the economy of all of our States.\n  I also believe that the work and return component is important\nbecause the fact is, if we are ever going to do anything about the root\ncauses of immigration, we are going to have to support the efforts of\nthe nations that supply these immigrants to help build their own\neconomy and to create opportunity and jobs. If we don't do that, then\nthe drain of the risk takers, the young and able-bodied, the people\nevery economy depends upon in order to do the work and to help boost\nthe economy and create opportunity, will continue, and we will never be\nsuccessful.\n  I believe both for our purposes and for the purposes of those\ncountries that supply immigrant labor to the United States, it is\nimportant that we have a work and return requirement. I plan on\nreintroducing this measure when we return in January. I believe this\nproposal will enhance America's border security and homeland security\nby allowing law enforcement to focus on the true threats to America and\nthose who intend to do us real harm.\n  There are as many as 10 million individuals already present in this\ncountry illegally. Our homeland security demands an accounting of the\nidentity of these individuals and their reason for being here and a\njudgment as to whether they pose a danger to our citizens.\n  While I believe we have done a good thing here today and that we have\nmet the request of the 9/11 families and the 9/11 Commission to deal\nwith their concerns in this bill, we have not yet finished the job.\nIndeed, I don't believe we can claim we have finished the job until we\ndeal comprehensively with immigration reform. I know it is going to\ntake a lot of discussion. This is a controversial area, but I know the\nAmerican people will benefit from a discussion in Congress and from our\nunderstanding of what their concerns are so we can try to achieve a\nnational consensus to deal with this issue which we have neglected for\nfar too long. It is because we have neglected it that we are not as\nsafe as we should be; nor can we justly claim to be a nation of laws\nwhile we ignore this present violation, and ignoring those laws when it\nhas to do with the immigrants in our country.\n\n  Mr. President, I will talk more about this in January when we return\nbut I did not want the occasion to pass without making these few\ncomments.\n  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.\n  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cornyn). In my capacity as a Senator from\nthe State of Texas, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the\nquorum call be rescinded.\n  Without objection, it is so ordered.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2004-12-08-pt1-PgS12012-2"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 58.56332601979375, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}