I just caught him on C-SPAN, speaking about the immigration bill compromise:
"This proposed compromise does not protect American workers.""I believe that we need a provision in this bill that could provide for a true temporary worker program."
"Under this bill, there will be a massive one-way migration...into the United States and no incentives for their return."
"This provides an alternative path to citizenship...some have talked about a guest worker program or a temporary worker program. This is neither."
"When it [the economy] is bad, these individuals will prove stiff competitin indeed for Americans."
"Without border security...without worker verification...this bill provides another invitation to massive illegal immigration and constitutes a reward to those who have entered out country illegally."
"This is an extremely important bill...because it's a matter of national security and it's a matter of maintaining the confidence of the people of the United States."
"The people of the United States feel like we let them down in 1986."
"The only way we're gonna be able to demonstrate that we are serious is to have a serious debate...so far, all we've been left with is obstructionism."
Other reactions from the blogosphere:
Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.): On the fiscal implications of the compromise (also on C-SPAN)
"It is a budget-buster. We have not yet begin to figure out how much this legislation will cost.""This so-called compromise that was hatched yesterday was not even printed until 10 o'clock last night."
"Then we have now this compromise desperately put together by well-intentioned, no doubt, but people who have no particular experience or expertise."
"Frankly, we're gonna have to deal with the specifics of immigration...it's too imporatnt to treat it on an superficial level."
"American people care about it and we owe them."
Sessions notes that the CBO figures do NOT include costs associated with the conditional non-immigrant provisions of the bill or revenue loss and outlays associated with the Earned Income Tax Credit (a tax return for people who pay no taxes, for which many illegals would become eligible under the bill)
CBO: "Estimated outlays are about $2 billion dollars for the first two years...and 12 billion for the first 10 years, and the final figures will be bigger than those...Outlays in the succeeeding 10 years will be greater."
"We have a budget problem with this bill, among other things."
"If you listen to some of those proponents...if we just pass this bill it's going to make us all rich...people are gonna pay taxes, the economy is gonna improve, and the average guy is gonna be fine. But the fact is that didn't happen in 1986."
"We're gonna see a rise in cost to our government."
"The record is clear that the American taxpayer did pay for the 3 million beneficiaries of the 1986 bill."
"American taxpayers will pay if this bill passes...it will be a drain on our programs...that are meant to provide assistance to American citizens and people who came here legally."
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