Posted on 10/26/2006 10:33:21 AM PDT by 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
It has NOT been funded, why means this whole exercise was a sham!!!!!!
The fence is not even funded you fool. It will never be built. Just a sham on those who actually believe it will be built.
You're not 'disappointed' with this President ms green, you're livid.
Why you think Warren G. Harding was a better President than George W. Bush. Your extremism and spite makes your opinion basically worthless.
Is calling someone a 'fool' who doesn't agree with you the way you plan to go about it?
btw, the question of funding has been addressed upthread. It is not UNfunded, it has already been partially funded.
As for 'It will never be built"........I don't argue with wild speculation. I deal in reality.
Try it some day.
Why you guys have a hate party any time the subject of immigration comes up.
You should be THANKING President Bush for giving you a reason to come out and scream and rant and lie.......just like you're all doing on this very thread.
A worthless opinion from an ohio sheep...BAAAHH
Silly post of the day.
ROFLOL!
You have NO credibility because of your extreme, unchecked emotions. NONE.
Happy day! High five each other because you can bash your little hearts out. Must be fun to be you......
"The great pretenders, AKA. "pseudo-conservatives"."
That's one breed.
Another are the 'strategic conservatives', who know that you never get 100%, so keep plugging away to win small victories to advance the cause to get closer, work with coalitions as needed to win victories, dont engage in divisiveness that is selfdefeating, and never give up nor adandon principles.
As opposed to the "idiot-conservative" wing that bashes a president and party who give us *some* of what us conservatives want, creating the effect of handing power to the Democrats who wil give us *NONE* of what we want.
:-)
That's what unchecked emotions will get you on a forum where other people actually think about things, jan.
"You should be THANKING President Bush for giving you a reason to come out and scream and rant and lie......."
"Silly post of the day."
If that was a self-reference, Id agree.
Only a small portion and that was changed later to allow for the use of that money to go to other projects. I wonder how fast they will run out of money before the fence ever gets built? He's managed to stall for 5 1/2 years so far.
probably
I don't believe that President Bush OR his policies are conservative. I am a real conservative, and I have opinions whether they suit you or not.
I stopped being a supporter of GWB when he refused to close the borders after 9/11/01, and if you haven't noticed, the borders have remained open despite continued terrorist threats. That doesn't make sense to any real conservative.
Lets see ohiofan,
The GOP has controlled all three branches of gov for the most of 6 years and the best they can come up with 2 weeks before the election is a partially funded border fence that may never be built.
Why didn't they fund it all? When will they start to build it?
So, now you are arguing against tancredo on this bill?
You dont think Tancredo understands what is in this bill and the Homeland Security appropriations bill that brings the money to the table?
LOL.
"Why didn't they fund it all?"
Because it is multi-year project. $1.2 billion in this year, more later.
" When will they start to build it?"
NOW. (billions were spent prior, btw; it is misleading to say nothing was done; check out Duncan Hunters Congressional website that goes back to his efforts since the 1990s on this!)
Excerpts worth repeating
"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."
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."
"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.
**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.**
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."
Everyone conveniently forgets the 3-way compact with Mexico, Canada and the United States, that he so boldly signed in Texas during summer of 2005 on behalf of all us citizens...
When's groundbreaking going to happen?
If what you say is true, then we should start to see construction beginning very soon. If what you said is accurate.
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