Senate Should Follow House on Border Security

This week, I voted to support three major pieces of legislation that will help increase border security and crack down on illegal immigration.  The three bills, which all passed the U.S. House of Representatives, were the Community Protection Act of 2006, the Immigration Law Enforcement Act of 2006, and the Border Tunnel Prevention Act of 2006.

These three bills can make an immediate impact in securing our borders and securing our nation.  Every day, criminals successfully exploit our immigration laws and the results have been more drugs and violence in our neighborhoods.  The legislation we passed today is a good first step at addressing the problems created by illegal immigration.  The next step is adopting strong interior enforcement measures and policies that punish employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.  I call on the Senate to listen to the American people and support the stronger border enforcement policies the House passed this week.