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Skriven 2006-06-07 23:33:48 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (060607) for Wed, 2006 Jun 7
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President Bush Discusses Comprehensive Immigration Reform in Nebraska
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 7, 2006

President Bush Discusses Comprehensive Immigration Reform in Nebraska
Metropolitan Community College - South Omaha Campus
Omaha, Nebraska


˙˙˙˙˙ In Focus: Immigration

8:32 A.M. CDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for the warm welcome. It's great to be back in Omaha.
I'm a little -- I just wish the timing were a little better -- (laughter)
-- Senator. If I'd only delayed my trip, we'd have been able to watch the
College World Series again. (Laughter and applause.)

But I couldn't delay it, for this reason: This country is debating an
important issue. It's an issue about our soul and our character. It's an
issue that relates to people that are in our country. It's the immigration
issue. And I don't think this issue can wait for a baseball game or a
baseball tournament, it needs to be addressed now. And I'm honored to be
here in Omaha, Nebraska, right here in the middle of our country, to talk
about a vital issue that affects us all.

Before I came here to give the speech, I went to the Juan Diego Center.
It's right down the road, if you haven't been there. It's run by Catholic
Charities. By the way, Catholic Charities is one of the most important
battalions in the army of compassion. (Applause.) It's full of -- it's a
center of love and compassion. It's a place where volunteers come to reach
out to somebody who could use a little extra help, and those volunteers ask
nothing in return.

I saw a place where people are learning to speak English, and learning the
civic lessons of what it means to be an American citizen. I sat around a
table with entrepreneurs, people from different countries, all of whom are
bound by a common dream of owning their own business; people who are
willing to work hard to put food on the table for their families and to
realize a dream. It was such an inspiring conversation for me.

One such person I met was Salvador Pi a. He's a new American citizen who
had a dream; he wanted to own his own business. And Salvador went to the
Juan Diego Center, and said, can anybody here help me? For some of us, we
take it for granted that it's easy to understand what forms to fill out, or
what worker compensation means, or how do you pay your sales tax. But for
some, they need a little extra help. They don't need to be inspired to
dream big dreams, but they need help to realize those dreams.

He -- Salvador received a $10,000 loan from Catholic Charities. That's not
exactly a micro loan, but it's help. In other words, he said, can you help
me; I'll work hard for whatever you do to help me, but can you give me --
lend me a hand, brother. And Catholic Charities did, and today he owns his
own business. He's the proud owner of Pi a Auto Repair. By the way, if
you're looking for a good man to fix your car -- (laughter) -- give old
Salvador a chance.

So what's it like? He said, I've been working hard. I said, do you employ
anybody? He said, yes, I've started with just me, and now I've got three
employees. That's what America is all about, isn't it, one person with a
dream helping others to provide an employment opportunity. Salvador owns
his own building. That's what we want in America. We want to encourage an
ownership society, where a person like Salvador, who started with nothing,
can say, welcome to my business, and I own my building; come on into the
building I own, and here are the three people I'm employing.

When you hear people like me talk about assimilation, that's what we're
talking about, helping people assimilate into America, helping us remain
one nation under God. So I want to thank Catholic Charities for their good
work, and I want to thank a dreamer like Salvador for coming here, obeying
the law, and working hard to achieve the American Dream.

When I get back to Washington I'm going to sign an executive order creating
a task force on the new Americas. This task force is going to be led by our
Secretary of Homeland Security, Chertoff. It's going to work to help people
at the grass roots level expand the teaching of English and civics and
history instruction programs, to help others assimilate into America.

We want to -- I'm going to create -- I've also signed legislation that
created an Office of Citizenship at the Department of Homeland Security to
promote knowledge of citizens' rights and responsibilities. In other words,
one aspect of making sure we have an immigration system that works, that's
orderly and fair, is to actively reach out and help people assimilate into
our country. That means learn the values and history and language of
America. And for those of you who are wondering how you can help our
country, volunteer. You'll be a part of such an assimilation process, just
like the volunteers at Catholic Charities are doing.

I appreciate the Governor being here. Mr. Governor, thank you and Sally for
coming. You're kind to take time out of your schedule to say hello to the
old President. (Laughter.) Getting older by the minute, by the way.
(Laughter.) I'm not supposed to talk about myself, but in a month, I'm
turning 60. For you youngsters, I want to tell you something. When I was
your age, I thought 60 was really old. (Laughter.) It's all in your mind.
It's not that old, it really isn't. Right, Senator Hagel? (Laughter and
applause.)

I want to thank Chuck Hagel for his leadership on this issue, this
immigration issue. (Applause.) You see, you can make the choice in
Washington, D.C. whether you want to be a leader or whether you want to
kind of lay back and see how things work out, and then take a position. You
can go to Washington to solve problems, or you can go to Washington to hope
those problems go away. Senator Hagel is one of the type of people that
said, I'm going to go to Washington to take a lead on this issue. This
problem isn't going away, it needs to be fixed now, and I want to thank
Chuck Hagel for his leadership on this important issue. (Applause.)

I'm proud to be here with one of the most decent men in the United States
Congress, a man who's got a huge heart, a compassionate fellow, a person
who didn't have to go into public service, but said, service to a nation
you love and a state you care about is an important lesson for others to
realize, and Tom Osborne is one of the fine, fine Americans. (Applause.)

I want to thank the Lieutenant Governor, Rick Sheehy, and the Secretary of
State, John Gale. Thank you all for coming today.

I'm glad we're at a community college. (Applause.) And I thank Jodi
McDowell and the board and the teachers who are here, welcoming me here.
This is a -- (applause.) I don't know if the people of Omaha realize what
an important asset you have in your community college system. I certainly
understand it. Community colleges are a really important part of making
sure America remains a competitive nation.

I remind our fellow citizens, particularly those who look to the future and
get nervous, and say, well, we can't compete, or there's no way for America
to be the economic leader of the world, there's just too much competition
-- I simply just don't believe that. I tell people, let's don't fear the
future, let's shape it. And one way we can shape the future is to make sure
people have the skills necessary to fill the jobs of the 21st century, and
one of the best places for people to learn the skills of the 21st century
is at a community college. (Applause.)

Community colleges are practical. They design curriculum that meets the
needs of today's world. So when people come here, they come here to learn a
set of skills so they can go out and get a job and be a contributor to our
society. Maybe the best way for me to describe how important a community
college is, is to tell you a quick story about Heather Fowler. Where is
Heather? There you are. You got a lousy seat, but that's okay. (Laughter.)
She should have had a better seat because she's the president of the
community college. Heather has got, I think, the toughest job in America,
and that is being a single mother raising two children. It's particularly
tough since one of her daughters is nearly 16. (Laughter.) I know what it's
like.

She's the president. She had been out of school for 16 years. She had been
working to raise her family, but she realized that she needed to come back
to enhance her skills. So guess where she came -- right here. And she's
graduating with a nursing degree. See, she had the initiative to say, I may
have been dealt a tough hand, but I'm going to play it with all my strength
and all my might, and I'm going to take advantage of that which is
available. The community colleges makes advantages available to people.

Heather, I want to thank you for your dedication, I want to thank you for
your example. If anybody is listening out there and you're wondering
whether or not you can find a place to enhance your skills, so you can get
a higher-paying job, so you can become a more productive worker, which
means more pay for you, take the heart of the president of this school --
take the lesson to heart. Heather Fowler shows what's possible here at the
community college system. And I'm honored, Heather, you let me use you as
an example to encourage others to come to this fine place of learning.
(Applause.)

I want to thank Scot Adams. He tolerated me. He's the fellow who is the
executive director of Catholic Charities who took me on the tour. Great
tour guide. I want to thank -- I've got two messages for you from
Washington, one from the Secretary of Agriculture. (Laughter.) Johanns.
He's doing fine. (Laughter.) He's doing really good. As a matter of fact,
he remembers where he came from. That's an important part of Washington;
it's important that you go up there and serve, but never forget where you
came from. And Mike Johanns knows where he came from. And he's doing an
excellent job as the Secretary of Agriculture.

And Laura sends her best, by the way. She's a -- I checked in with her this
morning. I'm an early riser, maybe a little too early for her in this case.
But she's doing good, really good. And I'm proud to call her wife, and I
hope you all are proud to call her First Lady. She's a fine First Lady.
(Applause.)

We talked about the importance to help people assimilate into our society.
This is what's happened throughout the ages here in America. People have
learned to assimilate. You know, I like to remind people, when we think
about this immigration debate, the first thing people have got to remember
is we are a nation of immigrants, that we've had this debate before in
American history. This isn't the first time the United States of America
has had to take a look at our nature and our soul and our history.

I'm here to talk about a comprehensive immigration reform package, one part
of which is to help people assimilate. The reason I want a comprehensive
reform package is because I want whatever we do to work. And in my
judgment, the definition of work is we want a border that's safe and
secure; we want rule of law to prevail; and we want the American Dream to
flourish. We're a nation of laws, and we want to uphold those laws. We're
also a compassionate nation that treats people decently, and the two are
not in conflict. That's what's important for our fellow citizens to
understand. The two are not in conflict.

I know you probably look at Washington and think it's impossible to develop
a consensus in Washington, D.C. It probably seems that way, doesn't it,
when you pay attention to all the sharp elbows being thrown and the people
opinionating and screaming and hollering and calling each other names. But
there is a consensus emerging on this issue. I remind the folks, I was down
-- one reason I'm red-faced is I was down on the border yesterday in
Laredo. It was about 106. But I reminded people that last fall, when I
moved around the country on this issue, there wasn't any legislation at
all. As a matter of fact, it was in doubt as to whether or not people even
wanted to talk about the issue. You could hear them saying in Washington,
2006 is an election year; maybe we don't want to take on this issue.

But some of us in Washington said, well, you got to take on the issue.
There's a problem, it's not working. The system is not working, the borders
aren't secure, we got people living in the shadows of our society, and
that's not right. People don't have trust in the border -- the federal
government is doing its job on the border, and at the same time, we got a
whole industry sprung up of smugglers and document forgers and people who
are using people like cattle, and that's not fair and that's not right,
either.

And so since then, since when I was -- went down there to the border for
the first time to bring up the issue, the House passed a bill. And then I
mentioned the Senate passed a bill with Chuck's leadership there. So
there's progress. You can't get a piece of legislation out that I can sign
unless you get both bodies to move.

And so now we're in what's called a conference committee, and there's a
consensus developing. Listen, all of us in America agree we've got to
secure our border. That's the job of a federal government. You want to know
who's coming into your country and why; that's what you want to know. We
have a responsibility to enforce the border.

And we're making good steps toward that. First thing is you've got to have
Border Patrol agents to enforce the border. And by 2008, we will have
doubled the number of Border Patrol agents to 18,000 Border Patrol agents.
And these are people who are highly-trained people, whose job it is to
respect the law, to be able to ascertain if somebody's coming into this
country illegally or not. See, their job is to make sure the border is open
for tourism and legal traffic and shut down for drugs and narcotics and
smugglers.

And I was out there to the training plant in Artesia, New Mexico, by the
way, yesterday, and there's some find people serving our country. They
really are hard-working, decent folks who volunteered and said, I want to
serve the United States of America in the Border Patrol. And since 2001,
we've apprehended and sent back six million people trying to get in the
country.

People are working hard to defend our border, and so therefore, we're going
to double the number of Border Patrol agents. And until we get them stood
up, in my judgment, it made sense to send some National Guard folks down
there, not to be the law enforcement arm of the Border Patrol, but to man
the phones and radars and help build the roads, to complement the Border
Patrol, so that the Border Patrol stays on the front line of enforcing the
border. And once we get the Border Patrol up and running, the Guard can go
back to doing what they're doing. But it makes sense to tell the American
people that we understand our obligation and we're going to do our job of
enforcing the border.

This is a long border. I mean, it's hard to enforce. And therefore, we need
to have good technology down there -- cameras and infrared devices and
unmanned aerial vehicles and high-tech -- high-density corridors, some
fencing -- just so the Border Patrol can do its job. That's what the
American people expect, that we're going to modernize our border, and
Congress agrees on that.

The other problem we got along the border is that when people get stopped
who are illegally trying to come in the border, a lot of them just get sent
back into society. That's not a good system. There's something wrong with
this system. In other words, you got people down there enforcing the law,
and somebody gets apprehended and they send them to an immigration holding
deal, and they say, look, check back after 45 days with us, please -- well,
they're not checking back after 45 days. That's called catch and release.

Most of the people we catch are Mexican citizens and they're sent back to
their country immediately. But a lot of folks from Central America, for
example, are caught, and since we didn't have enough detention beds, places
to hold them until they're able to be sent back to their country, people
were let out in society. And that demoralized our Border Patrol. It
basically said to the American people, we're not serious about enforcing
our border.

And so we're ending the practice of catch and release by increasing the
number of facilities for people to be compassionately held until they're
able to be sent back to their countries. And I'm working with the countries
to encourage their leaders to accept back those who have been caught trying
to sneak into our country.

Look, the strategy is this: The strategy is to say, once people understand
that they can't come into our country illegally and they'll be sent home
when they try to, then they're not going to try in the first place. That's
part of the strategy.

However, I want you to know that I don't believe we can enforce our border
without having a rational way for people to come here to do work that
Americans are not doing. It's called a temporary worker plan. A temporary
worker plan recognizes that -- two things: one, there are jobs Americans
aren't doing, they're just not, and yet there's a need. We got employers
who are looking for employees to do a certain kind of work. And the second
aspect is you've got to understand family values don't stop at the Rio
Grande River. There are a lot of hardworking, decent people who want to put
food on the table for their families. And therefore, they're willing to get
in the back of an 18-wheeler, or walk across a hot desert to work.

And that's part of the phenomenon you're seeing, you see, and you can't
enforce the border like the American people expect us with just Border
Patrol and technology alone. So long as there's that strong desire for
people to improve their lives, to do whatever it takes to come to America
to work, it's going to make it really hard to enforce that border. And so
the best way to do it is to have a plan so people don't feel like they got
to sneak in. We ought to have a plan that says, you can come in legally for
a limited period of time -- you can come in and do work Americans are not
doing, and then you go home. But you can take that money you made and help
your family. That's what we ought to have.

See, when people are trying to sneak across the border it makes it hard to
enforce the border. When people can come here in a rational way that saves
their lives, as well as takes pressure off the border, it will enable us to
be able to tell the American people we got a better way of doing the job
they expect us to do, which is enforce the border.

I strongly support a temporary worker program. I think most people in
Congress understand the rationality of a temporary worker program. I
guarantee you many employers here in the state of Nebraska, people in the
agricultural sector, people in the hospitality sector, understand the need
to have a rational plan that will enable them to have somebody here on a
temporary basis to do the jobs Americans aren't doing.

We all agree that we need to uphold the law when it -- oh, by the way, in
order to get one of these cards, something I'm about to describe to you,
you got to pass a criminal background check. In other words, we want to
know who's coming into the country and why they're coming in the country,
and we want to help meet an economic need, as well as a humanitarian need.

I repeat to you, America should not tolerate a system that has encouraged
coyotes to flourish -- coyotes are the unscrupulous that take a human being
who desires to improve his or her life and stuffs them in the back of an
18-wheeler. And in my judgment, a temporary worker program would put
coyotes out of business, and society would be better off without them.

We agree in Washington that we need to enforce laws when it comes to hiring
illegal workers. See, it's against the law in America to hire an illegal
worker. That's what the law says. You can't hire -- you can't uphold the
law, however, when people are showing up with forged documents. How can you
expect your employers to say you're here legally, or not legally, when
employers are not document verifiers? And so, therefore, a temporary worker
program has got to have a tamper-proof identification card that shows
somebody is here legally and so the employer knows that they're not
breaking the law.

It makes sense to me to say to our employers, sure, you ought to be able to
hire somebody, but just make sure they're legally here, and here's a system
that encourages you to be able to know that you're hiring somebody who is
legally here.

The big issue facing Washington is what to do with people that have been
here for quite a while. That's really, I think, the ultimate stumbling
block, when you think about it. There's serious disagreement on the issue
around the country. First of all, we've got to recognize that there are
people who have been here that are newly arrived, and then there are people
who have been here for, say, a decade who have paid their taxes and built a
home and raised a family. So the question is, what do you do, what do you
do as a society?

The debate really -- much of the debate I'm sure you're hearing from is
either amnesty or deportation, both of which I'm against. Amnesty means
you're automatically a citizen. I don't think that makes sense. It's not
fair to those who have waited legally. We got a lot of people waiting to be
citizens here, and they've done -- they've adhered to our laws, and they're
in line, they're in the citizenship line. And I think it would be unfair to
those who have been here legally to say to those who have been here
illegally that these folks get ahead of you in line. That doesn't make any
sense to me, if we're a country that's going to uphold laws.

On the other hand, it makes no sense at all to say we can find people and
run them out of the country. For some, I guess that sounds appealing. It's
impractical. It's not going to work, and it's not necessary, in my
judgment. It's not the right thing to do.

The right thing to do is to recognize that if you've been here illegally,
that there ought to be a cost for doing so, but also recognize there are
decent, hardworking people that have contributed to our society at the same
time. And so I believe here's a way to work out -- work through this
problem. One is to say, you got to pay a fine for being here illegally.
You've got to learn the English language. In other words, you got to pay --
repay a debt to society and learn the skills necessary to assimilate into
our society. Show us you've been working hard. In other words, there's a
way to verify your contributions to our society. And then, if you want to
be a citizen, you can get in line to be a citizen, but not at the head of
the line, you get to get at the back of the line.

And to me, that is a humane, decent way of addressing a very difficult
problem that Congress is going to have to wrestle with. I believe we ought
to differentiate between those who've been here for a long period of time,
and those who are newly arrived. I know we need to treat people with
respect and dignity. I think the best way to assure the American people
that we're a nation of laws and a compassionate nation at the same time is
to say, pay your debt to society, and if you choose to be a citizen, you
can, just you wait in line at the back, not in the beginning.

See, there are lines for people who want to become a citizen, and they're
based upon nationality. And Congress can determine the length of the line
if they want. If the line is too long for Irish people, or people from
different countries, or Mexicans, then increase the number of green cards.
If the people are worried about the number of citizens all of a sudden
becoming eligible for citizenship, you can decrease the number of green
cards. But in the meantime, we need to treat people with respect.

This is a tough debate for America, it really is. It's a tough debate
because it's one in which the language can sometimes send the wrong signals
about what we're about. People are very emotional about this issue. And my
admonition to people who are concerned about the immigration debate is to
remember that language can send signals about who we are as a nation. That
harsh, ugly rhetoric on the debate tends to divide our country. It tends to
forget the values that have made us great.

The values that made us great is that we're a nation that have been united
by common ideals, proud of our history, proud of our flag, understanding of
the need to have a common language, and at the same time, a society whose
soul has been uplifted constantly by the fact that people have come to our
country to realize a dream, the dream of working hard and improving their
lot in life; the dream of putting food on the table, and at the same time,
hoping the child goes to college; the dream of owning their own businesses.
That's uniquely American. It enables me to say to the American people that
"one nation under God" means something. And we must never lose that spirit.

For people in Washington, D.C., now's the time to get something done. It's
important for our elected leaders to understand if you're going to address
the issue of immigration, you've got to address all aspects of the
immigration. It's got to be a comprehensive bill if we want there to be an
effective bill.

People say, well, you know, Mr. President, it looks impossible that
something's going to happen. I disagree. American people want something to
happen. They expect us as people elected to office to work together to get
something done in a positive way. That's what they expect of us. And I'm
going to continue traveling this country reminding the people that we have
got an opportunity to put together a comprehensive package to reform the
system to make it work, a system that will enforce our border, and a system
that will reinforce our values.

I want to thank you for giving me a chance to come and talk to you about
this important issue. I'm really glad to be back in Omaha, Nebraska. May
God bless you all, and may God continue to bless our country. (Applause.)

END 9:02 A.M. CDT

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