"Cornyn and Hutchison from Texas are opposing amnesty."
"I don't trust ANY of them. I want them to come out and say very CLEARLY what their intentions are and STICK with them."
Cornyn has a bill on the table, Cornyn-Kyl. He is on the record with his votes and his legislative proposals.
It's a darn sight better than the amnesty bills the Senate is toying with.
By Will Weissert
ASSOCIATED PRESS
2:39 p.m., August 15, 2003
MEXICO CITY – Despite his home state's often-combative relationship with Mexico, a U.S. senator from Texas is pushing hard for greater rights for millions of Mexicans living and working illegally in the United States.
Speaking in Mexico City on Friday, Republican John Cornyn said it was "past time" for his colleagues in Congress to consider legislation making some form of guest-worker program a reality.
"This is an appropriate time to restart negotiations," said Cornyn, who met with Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez during a three-day trip to Mexico's capital.
Last month, Cornyn presented a bill that would provide Mexican workers with a card allowing them to get jobs in the United States and requiring that they be paid at least the minimum wage.
U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, Rep. Jeff Flake and Sen. John McCain, all Republicans from Arizona, also have presented a guest-worker proposal.
Cornyn said the issue had been delayed for more than two years because of security issues on the border, but said it was time for U.S. authorities to "distinguish between those who would do the United States harm and those who come to make positive contributions."
Adm. James Loy, who is the deputy secretary for Homeland Security, testified before the Intelligence Committee earlier this year that they had reason to believe that al Qaeda had looked at coming across the Mexican border to infiltrate the United States because it would give them greater operational security, I think he said. Do you think that’s a credible threat? Do you have reason to believe that al Qaeda might want to come across our border?
CORNYN: Absolutely. Why not? It’s easy to do.
Do you have any information yourself about that?
CORNYN: I don’t have any information that’s it has actually happened.
What about people telling you that it’s likely to happen?
CORNYN: To me, it’s just obvious, because if you have an open door for someone to walk through, why would you climb over the wall. I think, essentially, our border in between our points of entry are—it’s the wild, wild west.