FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, September 29, 2006

Isakson Praises Passage of Border Security Legislation, Renews Call for Emergency Supplemental to Secure U.S. Border

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) today praised the Senate's passage of legislation that would authorize up to 700 miles of double-layered fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border, and he renewed his call to secure the border by using a supplemental spending bill to fully fund the manpower and technology necessary to do so. The Secure Fence Act of 2006 passed by a vote of 80 to 19.                                          

"This bill is a positive first step to securing our border, but it is time that this Senate and the body across the hall made a commitment and made border security a reality," Isakson said. "An authorization is a promise, and an appropriation is a commitment."

In July, Isakson was the first member of Congress to propose using emergency supplemental funds to secure the border when he spoke on the Senate floor to call on the President to send a request for the funding to Congress. Isakson believes it is critical to secure the borders before implementing a new guest worker program because otherwise the United States will face a repeat of 1986, when amnesty was granted to 3 million illegal immigrants without enhancing border security first. The result, Isakson said, was that millions more immigrants have flooded into the United States illegally and now are straining our schools, our hospitals and our local jails.

"It is time we return to a pathway to citizenship that is legal. It is time we stop looking the other way. It is time we secure our border," Isakson said. "It is time we stop making promises. It is time we start delivering. America is too important. This issue is too critical to the American people."

Isakson also continued to urge his Senate colleagues to recognize the critical importance of his "border-security-first" approach to immigration reform. During debate in the Senate on immigration reform earlier this year, Isakson introduced a trigger amendment that would have prohibited the implementation of any program granting legal status to those who have entered the country illegally until the Secretary of Homeland Security has certified to the President and to the Congress that the border security provisions in the immigration legislation are fully funded and operational. The Senate defeated the amendment on May 16 by a vote of 40 yeas to 55 nays.

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