President Bush Signs Secure Fence Act (TRANSCRIPT of Bush Remarks)

White House ^ | Oct. 26, 2006 | President GW Bush

[IntelliQuark]

President Bush Signs Secure Fence Act The Roosevelt Room

9:34 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Thanks. Please be seated. I'm pleased that you all are here to witness the signature of the Secure Fence Act of 2006. This bill will help protect the American people. This bill will make our borders more secure. It is an important step toward immigration reform.

I want to thank the members of Congress for their work on this important piece of legislation. I welcome you here to the White House. I'm looking forward to signing this bill.

I appreciate the Vice President joining us today. I thank the Deputy Secretary, Michael Jackson, of the Department of Homeland Security. Rob Portman -- he happens to be the Director of OMB. I want to thank Ralph Basham, who is the Commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. David Aguilar is the Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol.

I appreciate the fact that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has joined us, as well as House Majority Leader John Boehner. I appreciate them coming in from their respective states as I sign this piece of legislation. I want to thank Congressman Peter King, who's the Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee in the House of Representatives. I appreciate you being here, Peter.

Ours is a nation of immigrants. We're also a nation of law. Unfortunately, the United States has not been in complete control of its borders for decades and, therefore, illegal immigration has been on the rise. We have a responsibility to address these challenges. We have a responsibility to enforce our laws. We have a responsibility to secure our borders. We take this responsibility seriously.

Earlier this year, I addressed the nation from the Oval Office. I laid out our strategy for immigration reform. Part of that strategy begins with securing the border. Since I took office we have more than doubled funding for border security -- from $4.6 billion in 2001 to $10.4 billion this year. We've increased the number of Border Patrol agents from about 9,000 to more than 12,000, and by the end of 2008, we will have doubled the number of Border Patrol agents during my presidency.

We've deployed thousands of National Guard members to assist the Border Patrol. We've upgraded technology at our borders. We've added infrastructure, including new fencing and vehicle barriers. We're adding thousands of new beds in our detention facilities so we can continue working to end catch and release at our southern border. During the course of my administration we have apprehended and sent home more 6 million people entering our country illegally. And I thank the Border Patrol for their hard work.

The Secure Fence Act builds on this progress. The bill authorizes the construction of hundreds of miles of additional fencing along our southern border. The bill authorizes more vehicle barriers, checkpoints and lighting to help prevent people from entering our country illegally. The bill authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to increase the use of advanced technology, like cameras and satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles to reinforce our infrastructure at the border. We're modernizing the southern border of the United States so we can assure the American people we're doing our job of securing the border. By making wise of use of physical barriers and deploying 21st century technology we're helping our Border Patrol agents do their job.

The Secure Fence Act is part of our efforts to reform our immigration system. We have more to do. Meaningful immigration reforms means that we must enforce our immigration laws in the United States. It is against the law to hire someone who is here illegally. We fully understand that most businesses want to obey that law, but they cannot verify the legal status of their employees because of widespread document fraud. So we're creating a better system for verifying documents and work eligibility, and in the meantime, holding people to account for breaking the law.

We must reduce pressure on our border by creating a temporary worker plan. Willing workers ought to be matched with willing employers to do jobs Americans are not doing for a temporary -- on a temporary basis.

We must face the reality that millions of illegal immigrants are already here. They should not be given an automatic path to citizenship; that is amnesty. I oppose amnesty. There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic pass to citizenship for every illegal immigrant and a program of mass deportation. And I look forward to working with Congress to find that middle ground.

The bill I'm about to sign is an important step in our nation's efforts to secure our border and reform our immigration system. I thank the members of Congress for joining me as I sign the Secure Fence Act of 2006.

(The bill is signed.)

END 9:40 A.M. EDT

[Netizen]

The fence is now unfunded, while a couple of weeks back it had 1.2 billion. Money that had been for the fence now goes to 'other projects', thanks to both republicans and democrats. REPUBLICRATS.

But shortly before recessing late Friday, the House and Senate gave the Bush administration leeway to distribute the money to a combination of projects -- not just the physical barrier along the southern border. The funds may also be spent on roads, technology and "tactical infrastructure" to support the Homeland Security Department's preferred option of a "virtual fence."

The loopholes leave the Bush administration with authority to decide where, when and how long a fence will be built, except for small stretches east of San Diego and in western Arizona. Homeland Security officials have proposed a fence half as long, lawmakers said.

Two weeks before an election is too late to pretend to be serious about doing his job, when he has ignored his job for nearly 6 years!

"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican form of Government, and shall protect each of them against invasion." Article IV Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution.

[TeleStraightShooter]

Then we agree it's a function of the will to apprehend the trespassers which will be identified.

[Just mythoughts]

Oh but we don't know how the CREW got their hands on them.

Somebody who had access to the internet provider service most likely, had to capture them for the CREW group to do their dance.

[jrooney]

"aways angry" is not near as rude as "srew you, asshole or jerk".

[janetgreen]

And we're going to get a fence.

I'll believe it when I see it. We're also going to have amnesty shoved down our throats whether we like it or not.

Hate, no, just HUGE disappointment in this president and his open borders administration and the rest of the RINOs.

[MNJohnnie]

I see don't bother you with the facts. You are only interested in people telling you what you want to hear. Way to completely discredit yourself. Sorry the facts don't validate your feelings on the issue.


Thank you very much for making yourself look like a complete idiot with your response. I will be sure to save this little gem and repost it over and over and over every time you open your rabidly ignorant mouth.

[WOSG]

Go ahead, try to get Pelosi t odo your bidding...


Nancy Pelosi (D – California) will likely be the new Speaker of the House, if polls and prognostications are
to be believed. If so, our Congress is about to take a sharp left turn.

The San Fransicso Liberal has a very left-wing record:
• Pelosi voted against every Republican tax cut.
• Pelosi voted for the largest tax increase in history.
• Pelosi voted 19 times against eliminating the death tax.
• Pelosi voted five times for raising gasoline taxes
• Pelosi is so pro-high taxes she was one of only 27 members to vote against tax relief for poor neighborhoods in the inner city (presumably including her constituents in San Francisco ).
• Pelosi voted against the historic Welfare Reform Bill and later voted against its reauthorization.
• Pelosi voted against protecting the right to say "one nation under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.
• Pelosi voted against requiring that voters be identified so we could ensure only legal citizens are voting.
• Pelosi voted against requiring English on ballots.
• Pelosi refused to side with homeowners against the Kelo decision that allows cities to seize private property for profitable ventures, even though 365 members voted to stop cities from taking private property.
• Pelosi has voted at least 12 times against the death penalty.
• Pelosi was one of only 67 House members to vote against the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
• Pelosi has voted at least eight times against banning partial-birth abortion, at least three times against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (Laci's law), and scored a perfect 100 percent rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America.
• Pelosi voted against a bill that would "[b]ar the transportation of a minor girl across state lines to obtain an abortion without the consent of a parent, guardian or judge."
• Pelosi voted at least 31 times for using local or federal taxpayer dollars to fund abortions.
• Pelosi voted against building a fence on the border to protect America from terrorists.
• Before 9/11, Pelosi repeatedly voted to cut intelligence (in 1993 by $500 million) and after 9/11 she has still voted to cut intelligence (in 2004 she voted to withhold 25 percent of intelligence funds).
• When you ask why we were not more prepared for 9/11, remember that six months before Sept. 11, 2001, Pelosi voted to decrease proposed defense spending by $65 billion.
• The next time you think about North Korean nuclear tests and North Korean efforts to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile to reach the United States , remember that in 2002, Pelosi voted for an amendment to the FY 2003 Defense authorization that would block FY 2003 funding for space-based missile defense programs.
• Pelosi led a faction of 124 House Democrats who voted against final passage of the Patriot Act's reauthorization.
• Pelosi voted against the $87-billion Iraq/Afghanistan supplemental that included extra money for body armor for our soldiers.
• Pelosi voted against creation of Homeland Security Department.
• Pelosi was one of only 33 members to vote against prohibiting U.S. citizens and companies from conducting any financial transaction with countries that have been identified by the State Department as active sponsors of terrorism.
• In 2004, Pelosi voted against House passage of the intelligence overhaul bill, which reorganized 15 intelligence agencies under one Director of National Intelligence.

[Netizen]

semantics

[janetgreen]

In fact there hasn't been an "immigrant" to this country in my family since the 1600's.

Nope, WIA, I was born in the good ol' USA when it was still America. My grandma from Hungary) came here as a child at the turn of the century, LEGALLY.

[MNJohnnie]

"Conservatives don't support amnesty"

You mean like this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Reform_and_Control_Act_of_1986

[janetgreen]

This is just 'show' in hopes of helping the republicrats in the upcoming election.

Purina sheep chow, 'Net.

[Digger]

Sorry. Bush deserves zero credit for signing this bill. Conservatives have been holding his feet to the fire on immigration reform and most other domestic issues for the last 5-1/2 years. What's happened? On most domestic policy, Bush and the GOP have turned their backs on conservatism and advanced the WashDc-Beltway status quo, aka. LIBERALISM. No matter who sits in power, America is not being properly served by its elected officials. The status quo has to go

Right On!!Some days I feel I'm the lone voice here.

[WOSG]

"The fence is now unfunded, while a couple of weeks back it had 1.2 billion. "

WRONG.

Your own quote says ... "The funds may also be spent on roads, technology and "tactical infrastructure" to support the Homeland Security Department's preferred option of a "virtual fence.""

Capiche? that's not 'unfunded' that flexibily funding the original intent. $1.2 billion for fencing, both physical and virtual. The reality is that we need *both*. The reality is that the bill mandates *both* ...

See Tom tancredo's statement:
http://tancredo.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1228

"The Secure Fence Act of 2006 is an emergency measure that would help take the necessary steps to address these dire conditions along the border. It provides for over 700 miles of two-layered reinforced fencing along the southwest border with prioritized placement at critical, highly populated areas, and requires an evaluation of infrastructure needs along the northern border.

It mandates that DHS achieve and maintain operational control over the entire border through a “virtual fence” that deploys cameras, ground sensors, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and integrated surveillance technology; and also requires that DHS provide all necessary authority to border personnel to disable fleeing vehicles similar to the authority held by the United States Coast Guard for maritime vessels."

THE FULL STORY IS A GOOD STORY - THEY ARE DOING THE RIGHT THING!

---

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52573


A plan directing the Secretary of Homeland Security "to achieve operational control over U.S. international land and maritime borders" by using many techniques, including "physical infrastructure enhancements to prevent unlawful border entry" has been forwarded to the president's desk.

That plan, to mandate the first $1.2 billion in construction work on a fence to prevent illegal aliens, including potential terrorists, from wantonly crossing the border from Mexico into the United States, was sent to President Bush's desk yesterday, according to a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.

The Secure Fence Act of 2006 is the second half of the two-part legislative package needed for the work to begin; President Bush earlier signed into law a $34.8 billion funding package for the Department of Homeland Security that includes the money for the fence work.

The legislation defines "operational control" of the border as "the prevention of all unlawful U.S. entries, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband."

The president now has 10 days to act on the plan, which would address a problem that is estimated by officials with the BorderFenceProject.com to have an impact of $1 trillion annually, and Bush has indicated support for it as part of a larger package of measures.

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., called the legislation "a key component to keeping America safe and stemming the tide of illegal immigration."

They said American people are demanding a secure border and the fence work will respond to those needs.

"Unfortunately, the House and Senate Democrat Leaders voted against the Secure Fence Act. The Democrat immigration plan would fail the American people, allow dangerous criminals into our country and would set our homeland security back to pre-9/11 levels," they said in a statement.

"The money was already appropriated to it (the fence) in a separate bill," Tancredo's press spokesman, Carlos Espinosa, told WND. "When the president signs this, it actually dictates work on the 700 miles of fence."

[No.6]

"Anyone who does not like virtual fences should try to get into Area 51 which has 300 miles of rather effective virtual fence around it."

That's a good point, but that virtual fence is backed up by the very real likelihood of lethal force deployment. Just a note.

Personally I'm happy with this step. I'm not vindictive towards W at all about the border. Like the Meier (sp?) nomination, sometimes W is not 100% right on something. When he later takes a better course, it's fair and helpful to give him kudos. After all, if W gets flak from the border-hawks *regardless* of what he does, he's going to ignore them; nobody wants to bother trying to please the unpleasable.

It's perfectly OK, of course, to praise him today and tomorrow go back to the table and say "now, let's go further and do X Y or Z more." That's how to get results. Digging in one's heels and saying "Do it exactly my way or I'll scream" is a trick best left to Pelosi and Dean and that ilk.

[WOSG]

(part 2)
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52573


An earlier bill allocated $1.2 billion to the project, but the new legislation says specifically where it will be started and what will be done, he said.

"The full $1.2 billion is appropriated toward the fence, whether it is physical or virtual. That's basically the beginning, to get it going," he said. "As we go along, the idea is to keep funding it as necessary."

The targeted areas will include the most heavily trafficked areas, including some in Arizona and California. "From there we'll se how things go," he said.


Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas

Earlier, a leading senator on immigration-reform expressed doubts that plans for a 700-mile fence on the country's nearly 2,000 mile-long border with Mexico ever would be fulfilled.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, chairman of the Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship Subcommittee, told WND "we have not yet appropriated nearly enough to complete the job."

Cornyn supports a fence together with a technological solution to the problem of border security.

A bill signed by President Bush Oct. 4 allocated $1.2 billion to be spent during the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 for Southwest border fencing and other barriers, drawing immediately reaction from Mexico, which threatened to complain to the United Nations.

A spokesman for Mexican President Vicente Fox suggested the U.S. Congress is unlikely to appropriate enough funding to ever finish the 700-mile fence.

Cornyn's comments come amid efforts by Republican officials to turn back concerns that President Bush will not sign the Secure Fence Act.

Cornyn insisted to WND that the first priority is to secure the border, and then deal with other related issues.

"Any effort to reform our immigration system first requires that we secure our borders and restore respect for our laws," Cornyn said. 'We can do this while we honor property rights and water rights, and while we keep lawful trade going in the border area."

"Securing our border will require both money and time – a multi-year commitment by Congress," he said. "It remains to be seen whether that will occur."

He suggested Congress doesn’t have has the required resolve.

"We have seen over the past 20 years repeated instances of the federal government making promises regarding border enforcement, followed by failure to honor them," he said.

The president's spokesman, meanwhile, has confirmed to WND that the U.S. is deporting some illegal aliens as it works on the various facets of a comprehensive solution to the tens of millions of illegal aliens estimated to be in the United States already.

Spokesman Tony Snow, responding earlier to a question from Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent at the White House, said that there are deportations, but there also are complications.

Snow was asked why doesn't the U.S. deport immigrants who have broken the law to enter the United States, and if it doesn't, isn't that disregarding the laws that the nation already has.

"Well, number one, the president does not disregard the law. And, number two, when you have the inability to determine who is here illegally or not, it significantly hampers your efforts," Snow said.

"As part of eliminating 'catch-and-release,' we have, in fact, been deporting people," he said.

President Bush also noted earlier said part of the solution to illegal immigration "must" include a way for those already in the United States but without legal authorization to be given that status.

At a recent event at the White House honoring Hispanic Heritage Month, he promised that the law would be enforced, even as the debate on immigration is conducted "in a way that is respectful to our heritage."

"But at the same time, we must remember that in order to secure our borders, in order to make sure we fulfill our heritage, immigration reform must be comprehensive in nature. We must understand that you can't kick 12 million people out of your country; that we must figure out a way to say to those that if you're lawful and if you've contributed to the United States of America, there is a way for you to eventually earn citizenship," he had said.

The issue of "amnesty" to illegals already in the country remains one of the hottest issues in the debate over illegal immigration. There are many who believe that the border laws need to be enforced first, to dry up the gusher of illegal aliens moving into the United States, and then those who are here can be addressed.

One of those groups is Americans for Legal Immigration, where spokesman William Gheen told WND earlier that without a solid enforcement of border access, there's no point in having other laws.

"That's where it comes down," he said. "For any law to be a deterrent, the punishment must be greater than the rewards. Illegal aliens never will be able to pay for illegally immigrating. They must leave. That's the only punishment we have that's greater than the crime."

[truth_seeker]

"President Bush has done more than any president before him in recent history to secure our border."

Agreed. He deserves credit for taking this issue head on.

While many don't agree with the policy he put forth, I give him credit for making it a priority.

He understands the pieces. He puts them in the wrong order. This bill helped him.

[Digger]

Exactly! And once the elections are over, Congress will revert to listening to their REAL constituents -- Big Business -- and send Jorge Bush an amnesty/guest worker bill he will be much more happy to sign than this fence bill. Oh, yeah, they'll stifle any funding for the 700 miles of fence already approved, too!

I sure wouldn't bet against you. This small bone will be scruitinized to the point of no remedy. BTW it appeared that there was no fence being built on the TJ area. Seems it would be a logical place to cross.

[Reagan Man]

I know what you mean. Best thing to do is not pay attention to the moderate-centrist-liberal whiner wing of the Republican Party. Especially the Bushie Republicans who are absolutely convinced Bush can do no wrong. In the last five years, Bush has set conservative domestic policy back 20 years with his liberal spending habits, expansion of the federal bureaucracy and advocating for liberal immigration policy.

[djf]

The only reason CONgress even signed it is they know they'd be out on their collective keisters if they didn't.

I trust the American people on this. Seal the borders. Stop illegal immigration. The American people have a right to know who is coming here and why. The government has a responsibility to protect us from invasion.

After the borders are sealed, MAYBE we will talk about what to do about those here already.

[ilovew]

Reagan...guy who approved amnesty, right? Not that I don't love Reagan, I'm just sayin...he wasn't perfect either.