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Washington, DC - Today Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Fred Thompson (R-TN) hailed the passage of an amendment creating the new Department of Homeland Security, which the Senate adopted by a vote of 73 to 26. Final passage of the legislation, H.R. 5005, is expected later today.
The Thompson substitute amendment is identical to H.R. 5710, which was passed by the House of Representatives on November 13. With Senate passage of this bipartisan agreement, the legislation will be sent to President Bush to be signed into law...
The Thompson amendment also includes much needed reforms for the Immigration and Naturalization Service to promote stronger border security and immigration services. To address U.S. vulnerability to cyber attacks, the legislation includes language requiring federal agencies to utilize information security best practices to ensure the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of federal information systems...
http://hsgac.senate.gov/111902press2.htm
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The Immigration and Reform Act of 1986 was proposed by and passed during the Reagan administration, and it granted amnesty to illegal immigrants. It was a failure as far as reducing the flood of illegals across our borders.
Reagan, who was wise enough to learn from his mistakes, would not repeat this one if he had it to do over again, according to Ed Meese, one of his closest friends and advisors:
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=18399
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Fred Thompson has also learned from his part in this mistake. He now favors sealing the border before we try to do anything else about illegal immigration. He told Mike Wallace on Fox News Sunday:
“I’m concerned about the next 12 million or 20 million. So that’s why enforcement, and enforcement at the border, has to be primary.”
“I think most people feel disillusioned after 1986 when we had this deal offered to them before, and now we’re insisting that, you know, we solve the security problem first, and then we’ll talk about what to do with regard to other things — certainly no amnesty or nothing blanket like that.”
If we can make it nearly impossible for an invader to get a job and give the border patrol the authority and resources to arrest illegals and send them back where they came from, more than half the battle will have been won.
Thompson understands that if legal penalties are too high for employers to hire invaders and if government doesn’t give them free health care and a host of other undeserved benefits, there will be next to nothing left to attract them or keep them here. Again, FDT to Wallace:
“You know, if you have the right kind of policies, and you’re not encouraging people to come here and encouraging them to stay once they’re here, they’ll go back, many of them, of their own volition, instead of having to, you know, load up moving vans and rounding people up. That’s not going to happen.”
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,258222,00.html
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The bottom line is this: The GOP race for the nomination will eventually shake out to just two candidates. Would supporters of stricter immigration policy be better off with Fred Thompson in the White House (who supports sealing the border before any other action is taken) or with Rudy Guiliani (who, like the Democrats, supports amnesty, sanctuary cties and ignoring the immigration laws currently on the books)?
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