A Weekly e-Newsletter from
Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA)

April 7, 2006

Dear Friends,

This week the Senate debated several different immigration reform measures, but Senate Democrats blocked a vote on my amendment and several others that seek to enhance border security.  I believe that the people of this country are looking to us to secure our borders first before we tackle any new guest worker program. My amendment would do just that. It would require that we enact border security enhancements first before we implement any new guest worker program. Senate Democrats blocked a vote on my amendment this week, but I will continue to push for a vote on it. The latest compromise legislation offered by Senators Hagel and Martinez was agreed to by only a few people in the Senate and I oppose it as it now drafted because it would offer legal status to millions who entered this country illegally. Also, it fails to make border security the top priority. New programs that attract people to come here illegally will only compound the problem. If we do not secure our borders first, we will only accelerate the volume of illegals entering our nation.  If we fail to pass immigration reform that secures our borders first, we’ll have recreated the problem we created in 1986 when we granted amnesty to 3 million but failed to first secure the border. Only this time, we will deal not with just 3 million illegals coming, but millions and millions and millions more – all because we looked the other way.

Last weekend, President Bush called on Congress to make his tax cuts permanent, and the latest economic figures show that the United States gained more than 200,000 new jobs last month and 5 million jobs during the last three years. I feel very strongly that the President is right and that we should continue our nation’s unprecedented economic prosperity by making the tax cuts permanent. President Bush’s tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 lowered tax rates for individuals, businesses, dividends and capital gains, eliminated the marriage penalty and scaled back the alternative minimum tax and the death tax.  These numbers confirm what I have always believed — letting American taxpayers keep more of their hard-earned money pays far better dividends than sending that money to Congress to spend on another government solution.   We absolutely cannot afford to abandon the very strategy that has created jobs, allowed businesses to expand and left more money in the pockets of our families. 

What’s on Tap for Next Week?

Next week, the Senate will take a two-week recess.  Following that, the Senate may resume the immigration debate. Also on the agenda are Death Tax legislation and Defense Authorization.

Sincerely,
Johnny Isakson