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Skriven 2007-06-01 23:31:12 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (070601c) for Fri, 2007 Jun 1
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President Bush Attends Briefing on Comprehensive Immigration Reform
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary June 1, 2007

President Bush Attends Briefing on Comprehensive Immigration Reform Room
350 Eisenhower Executive Office Building

˙ /news/releases/2007/06/20070601-12.wm.v.html ˙˙Presidential Remarks
˙˙Audio

˙˙˙˙˙ Fact Sheet: Ending Chain Migration ˙˙˙˙˙ In Focus: Immigration

1:26 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Please be seated. First, I thank you very
much for your hard work on a comprehensive immigration bill and your
concern about our country. And the two go hand-in-hand. I believe that now
is the time to address the issue of immigration. I think it's in our
national security interests, and I think it's in the interest of making
sure America never loses sight of who we are.

This is a difficult issue for a lot of folks. I understand that. But
because it's difficult probably means we need to work doubly hard to get it
done. And now is the time to get it done. No matter how difficult it may
seem for some politically, I strongly believe it's in this nation's
interest for people here in Washington to show courage and resolve and pass
a comprehensive immigration reform.

My administration is deeply involved in this issue. I feel passionate about
the issue. I believe it's in this country's interest to solve the problem.
I believe it's in our interest when we find a system that is broken to fix
it, and the immigration system today is broken. And I've asked Michael and
Carlos Gutierrez to work the issue on the Hill, and these men are doing
good work. They understand the issue, they understand the bill, and they
understand they need to work with the Republicans and Democrats to get the
job done.

I say the system isn't working because there's a lot of Americans who say
that the government is not enforcing our border. I say the system is broken
because there are people coming into America to do work that Americans are
not doing, and there are good, decent employers who unknowingly are hiring
them, which is against the law.

The system is broken, in my judgment, because there are 11 million to 12
million people living in the shadows of a free society. The system is
broken because there are people who are exploiting human beings for
material gain. There are coyotes-- those are human smugglers -- charging
decent people large sums of money to come and work to put food on the table
for their families.

There's a document forgery industry in place, because the system is broken,
providing people with false documentation so they can do work that
Americans are not doing in order to provide for their families. There are
so-called innkeepers providing substandard hovels for people who are
smuggled into our country. In other words, we have got a system that is
causing people -- good, decent people -- to be exploited. And therefore,
now is the time to get it fixed.

For those concerned about border security, this bill focuses on border
security. For those concerned about making sure that we have workers
available to do jobs -- decent jobs to make sure our economy continues to
grow, this bill addresses that issue. For those concerned that we must
enable 11 million to 12 million people to come out of the shadows of our
society, this bill addresses that. To those concerned about whether or not
America will still have the capacity to assimilate the newly arrived, it
addresses that issue, too.

This is a good piece of legislation. I'm sure some of you in the audience
here will say, well, it's not perfect, there are some aspects of the bill
that I would like to see changed. On a piece of legislation this
complicated, the question people have to answer is, are we going to
sacrifice the good for the sake of the perfect? And my call to you is, is
that we need to work on a comprehensive bill together. First of all, I know
you're already doing that, so I'm really here to thank you.

I want to address a couple of the key issues that people are addressing. If
you want to kill a bill, then you just go around America saying, this is
amnesty. In other words, there are some words that illicit strong reactions
from our fellow citizens. Amnesty is when a person breaks the law and is
completely forgiven for having done so. This bill isn't amnesty. For those
who call it amnesty, they're just trying to, in my judgment, frighten
people about the bill.

This bill is one that says, we recognize that you're here illegally and
there's a consequence for it. We can argue about the consequences, but you
can't argue about the fact that there are consequences in this bill for
people who have broken our law.

People say, well, the bill is really -- is not going to do much to enforce
the border. Well, the truth of the matter is, certain aspects of the law
don't come into be until certain border measures are taken. But I would
remind people that you cannot fully enforce the border so long as people
are trying to sneak in this country to do jobs Americans aren't doing. You
can try, but doesn't it make sense to help the Border Patrol do their job,
by saying, if you're going to come and do a job, there is a legal way to do
it, so you don't have to sneak across in the first place? If you're
interested in border security, you've got to recognize that giving people a
chance to come and work here on a temporary basis makes it more likely the
border will be enforced.

There are some who -- I don't know if they say this explicitly, but they
certainly allege or hint that probably the best way to deal with 11 million
to 12 million people is to get them to leave the country. That's
impossible. That's the kind of statement that sometimes happens in the
political process aimed to inflame passion, but it's completely
unrealistic. It's not going to happen. And therefore, the fundamental
question for those who disagree -- and there's some good folks who disagree
on both political parties, I might add -- is, what's the solution?

This bill is not amnesty, but it recognizes that it is impossible for this
country to rout people out of our society and "send them home." It's just
not going to happen. And so good people have come together and derived a
solution based upon compromises that addresses this problem in a humane
way.

I recently gave a speech at the Coast Guard Academy, and I was preceded by
a young man, a Latino, who stood up as the head of his class, addressing
his classmates and their families and the President of the United States.
And he talked about his migrant grandfather, how proud the migrant
grandfather would be. It struck me again what a remarkable country it is
where a person with a dream for his immediate family and future family
could come to this country, work hard, make sacrifices, and have his
grandson address the President and his class.

This has been the American story for decades and decades -- waves of people
looking for a better life, seeking something better for themselves and
their families, willing to sacrifice and work hard. And we've got to
understand -- and great successes have resulted from that spirit. And this
country must never lose sight that what has made us unique and, in my
judgment, great is that we welcome people like that in a legal way; that
throughout our history there have been the stories of people who have
enriched our soul and lifted our spirit by coming to America.

One of the great things about our country is we've had the capacity to
welcome people throughout our history. And we've become all Americans.
We've got different backgrounds, different heritages, our forefathers may
have spoken different languages, but we're all American. We've been able to
assimilate under the laws and traditions of our country. And as a result,
we're a stronger nation for it.

America must not fear diversity. We ought to welcome diversity. We ought to
have confidence in what we have done in the past, and not lose confidence
about what we will do in the future.

And so I want to thank you all for joining on a really important piece of
legislation. It's the right thing to do. It's the right approach to take.
It is right to address a problem. It is right to work with people in both
political parties. It is right to argue for what you believe, and recognize
that compromise might be necessary to move the bill along. And it is right
to take political risk for members of the United States Congress.

I say -- I don't think this is risky, frankly. I don't view this as risk
reward. I, frankly, view it as doing what you ought to do. See, people
ought to be running for office to do what's right for the United States of
America. That's what I believe people run for office for. And so I want you
to know that you've got an administration that looks forward to working
with people. I will do my best to make sure that this debate does not
denigrate into name-calling and finger-pointing. And we'll spend energy and
time and effort to help you advance a really important piece of legislation
for the good of this country.

I've come by to say thanks. Chertoff and Gutierrez can tell you how the
bill has gotten this far and what we see in the future. But I'm looking
forward to signing a bill, and I think we will. I truly believe that when
people with goodwill and good heart, and focus on helping this country come
together, that we can get a good piece of legislation out. And I'm looking
forward to signing it. I hope you'll be there when I do.

God bless. Thank you. (Applause.)

END 1:38 P.M. EDT

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