Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement Monday on the Senate floor urging the Senate to take at least two weeks to debate the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill to allow adequate time for consideration of amendments to improve the legislation:
“Voting for cloture is a vote just simply to begin the debate on this legislation. Normally cloture is used to end debated, but here it is to begin.
“This is an extremely complicated, comprehensive piece of legislation worked on on a bipartisan basis over a period of time. It needs to be finalized. I understand there was a modification to the substitute just this afternoon agreed to, I believe by Senator Kennedy and Senator Kyl. We need to make sure that whatever substitute is offered is, in fact, reflective of exactly where this legislation is.
“The other point I would make is that we shouldn't be in a hurry to finish this bill. Last year, there were 35 immigration amendments. 23 amendments were voted on before cloture and 12 were voted on after cloture. This is by any standard at least a two-week bill and I think any effort to finish up this bill one way or the other this particular week would be unsuccessful.
“This is clearly a two-week bill, but this is an important subject. I think there's widespread discontent with the status quo in our country on the status of illegal immigration. It's time for the Senate to take this up, to give it adequate time for consideration, and hopefully at the end of two weeks to be able to pass a bill on a broad bipartisan basis that improves the current situation.”
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