Posted on 08/05/2005 1:04:32 PM PDT by Reaganwuzthebest
The president, in a wide-ranging talk, gives a hint at how he'll pitch reform measures
GRAPEVINE - President Bush told a crowd of state legislators Wednesday that he will push immigration reform as beneficial for U.S. employers as well as foreigners looking for work.
He also made an impassioned pitch for Americans to stay behind the war in Iraq.
"Immigration reform is going to be an interesting subject when we get back to Washington" in September, said Bush, who plans to spend this month at his Crawford ranch.
He argued that his proposal for a "guest worker" program is good for employers and illegal immigrants who want a mutually beneficial relationship.
"If you are a willing employer (and) you have somebody looking for work and you can't find an American, there ought to be a legal way for you to employ that person," he said. "We'd rather have people coming in with a card that said, 'I'm a legal worker,' than trying to sneak across the border."
The president has proposed a system under which immigrants would be granted worker temporary worker status, after which they would have to leave the United States. Critics have called it a thinly veiled amnesty program. Immigration reform plans have stalled in Congress so far this year, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist recently suggested a GOP push on the issue was more likely to happen next year.
Talking hours after the first reports that 14 U.S. Marines were killed in Iraq, Bush said, "The violence in recent days in Iraq is a grim reminder of the enemies we face. These terrorists and insurgents will use brutal tactics because they're trying to shake the will of the United States of America."
With polls showing that public support for continued military involvement in Iraq is eroding in the face of steady casualties, Bush relied on a familiar linkage of the war with the larger struggle against terrorism. He said Americans who died in Iraq and Afghanistan "lost their lives in a noble cause."
Speaking to 1,800 people at the American Legislative Exchange Council conference, Bush basked in recent legislative victories delivered by a GOP majority in Congress, including the Central American Free Trade Agreement and energy and highways legislation.
Bush said his priorities when Congress reconvenes after Labor Day will be immigration reform, making his tax cuts permanent, getting Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts confirmed and resurrecting his Social Security reform initiative.
Bush drew loud cheers by saying he strongly believed in private retirement accounts for workers under 55. "Now is the time to permanently fix Social Security," he said.
The event was held at a mammoth convention center where visiting legislators were introduced to Texas pride, including a large replica of the Alamo, a 10-foot-long space shuttle model and other state symbols.
Amen, brother, Amen.
They leave a trail of trash that extends for miles.
As long as the borders are the wild west ANY amnesty will produce another (bigger) tsunami of illegals.
Now I need two drinks!
I am not entirely against a fair guest worker program. However, this claim that there are jobs that Americans won't do is an outright lie. Its a way to avoid free market enterprise and flaut the marketplace laws. Quite simply, these are jobs that refuse to pay market price for labor and instead go to the black market, and even encourage the black market.
Exactly. I get harassed over a seatbelt and these people are welcomed with open arms?
There are so many things I would like to say to GWB right now, but won't because I don't want to get banned.
I'll join you in a Manhattan cocktail please.
Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!
Be Ever Vigilant!
Minutemen Patriots ~ Bump!
I'll have a second one please.
Sorry, no illegal immigrant laborers are needed and there are plenty of replacements.
Help Americans?
How is letting 1.5 million undocumented people into the country a help?
How is forcing taxpayers to cover medical care and housing for people who are here illegally and don't pay INTO the system a help?
How is it a help that 340,000 pounds of drugs were confiscated in one month alone by border control agents a help considering that most of the drugs gets into the country?
How is it a help that Mexican gangs are committing violent crimes in this country?
Is there not one Congresscritter with a national name going to have the guts to stand up and admit we have a problem?
On the illegal alien issue, he's earned it. It can't be harsh enough.
Make that three now. Although I certainly will never ever vote for a RAT, I find it hard to fathom working for the GOP any time soon again.
But there's no freaking integration. That's the crime. We can't go there. We can hardly even go there to vacation any more the crime against Americans is getting so bad... I wouldn't go there. But they can sure as he!! come here! I can't go there to work or own property but they can sure as he!! come here! It's all one way. That's not integration. That's not cooperation. That's not bringing them up to our level. That's bringing us down to theirs. Welcome to the turd world, friends. Not just for the next neighborhood over any more, I suppose.
Guest worker programs for law-abiding foreigners should be encouraged.
By the way, I am a foreigner myself, but I have a BIG issue with illegal immigration / breaking the law.
That picture says it all.
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