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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 19, 2002

Remarks by the President in Meeting with the Cabinet
The Cabinet Room

	President's Remarks   view   listen

3:08 P.M. EST

THE  PRESIDENT:   Thank  you  all  for  coming.  We've had a very good Cabinet  meeting.  I want to thank my members of the Cabinet for discussing a  variety  of  topics.  I heard from the Secretary of State about the Vice President's  visit  and  the  Zinni mission.  So we're making progress.  We heard,  of  course, from the Secretary of Defense about our progress in the war  on  terror.   And  I  appreciate his leadership and the bravery of the military.

We  talked  about a lot of other issues.  One thing I want to urge the Senate  to  do  is  to pass 245(i).  This bill passed the House, and it now needs  to pass the Senate.  It is a bill which enhances our border security and,  at  the  same  time, says that if someone's living here legally, they won't  have  to  leave  the country in order to stay with their family.  In other  words,  they  won't  have to leave the country, apply, and then come back  to  be  with  their family.  We believe in family values.  We believe good  policy  keeps  families  together.  The House agreed with us, and the Senate  ought  to act.  The Senate ought to get this done, and particularly soon.

I'm  going  to Mexico.  I want to show our friends, the Mexicans, that we  are  compassionate about people who live here on a legal basis, that we don't  disrupt  the  families  for people who are here legally.  So I think it's going to require some leadership in the Senate.  And I look forward to seeing the Senate get this done soon.

And I thank you all for coming today.

END                  3:10 P.M. EST