Hot topics

Senator Nelson's comments on issues making headlines:

Immigration

Most everyone agrees our immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed. What we have now is the equivalent of amnesty. That's why I voted to have a full debate and final decision on an immigration plan in the Senate. While the plan had flaws, it was a first step toward securing our borders and enforcing our immigration laws; and, seeing to it that everyone in America plays by all the rules, including paying taxes and following one set of employment mandates. Unfortunately, the Senate decided against passing any reforms at this time.

Iraq

Back in 2002 when we voted on the authorization for this war, I voted for it, as did most of the senators. The information we were given at the time was that there were weapons of mass destruction, certainly, chemical and biological weapons. And, we were led to believe Saddam Hussein had a very active nuclear program. But now we know none of that was true. And knowing what I know now - that none of that was true - would I have voted the same way? Of course I wouldn't have. But I voted for the war authorization on the basis of that information. We've been in Iraq almost four-and one-half years now, and the central questions before us today are: how do we keep a bad situation from getting worse; and, how do we achieve success from chaos? The Levin-Reed amendment recognizes the situation on the ground, and provides a practical way of getting our troops out of the crossfire of a civil war by redeploying them to go after al Qaeda, and to provide protection for U.S. personnel and assets and training for the Iraqi army. In the long-term, what we'll need is a political solution, instead of a military solution. This will take an aggressive diplomatic effort, as was advocated by the Iraq Study Group last year. This is what I support. Additionally, I am cosponsoring Sen. [ Joe ] Biden's plan for a political settlement to the violence in Iraq that allows power-sharing among the country's three warring factions. There would be a federalist system of government with autonomous states, and the limited central authority or national government would allocate the country's oil revenues.

National ID

The presidential commission on preparedness for and response to terrorist attacks recommended a national standard for identity documents. The REAL ID Act seeks to fulfill that recommendation. I support the legislation, because I agree with the 9-11 commission on the need for national standards. Still, we must ensure that any such legislation provides sufficient protection for individual privacy and adequate safeguards against fraud and identity theft.