Press Release

Administration Statement on Bingaman Amendment to Bipartisan Comprehensive Immigration Reform

WASHINGTON—U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez issued the following statement on behalf of the Bush Administration on today’s vote on the Bingaman amendment to Senate bill 1348, comprehensive immigration reform.

“A robust temporary worker program is an essential component of border security, and I urge the Senate to reject the Bingaman amendment.

“One of the fundamental flaws of the 1986 legislation was its failure to provide a legal channel for the workers our economy needs to enter this country in an orderly way. A central component of the bipartisan agreement announced last week is a remedy to this problem through a robust temporary worker program, tough legal safeguards to protect the wages of U.S. workers and a flexible program cap that can adjust up or down to market needs over time, thereby taking pressure off the border. The Bingaman Amendment would eliminate this critical flexibility and cut the size of the temporary worker program in half.

“Congress has an opportunity to avoid the mistakes of the past and fashion comprehensive legislation that will secure our borders and meet the needs of our economy. I hope that Senators of both parties will oppose this amendment.”