"This immigration reform bill [CIRA] would tighten border security, establish an immigrant guest worker program, and offer a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants already in the United States. President Bush has expressed support for the bill's major provisions. Opponents have said the bill rewards immigrants who entered the United States illegally and leaves the country vulnerable to security threats at the border. Supporters argue the measure recognizes economic and social reality of immigrant populations in the United States and provides hope of legal immigration status and a path to citizenship for law-abiding immigrants who come to the U.S. to work."

May 30, 2007 - Washington Post 
2006 Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (CIRA)  (1,333KB)  

"Without enactment of comprehensive immigration reform as provided for under this bill, our nation's security will remain vulnerable. That is why we must pass this bill, and reach a meaningful final product through conference deliberations. He [Senator Kennedy] and I spent many months working to develop a comprehensive, reasonable, workable legislative proposal, much of which is contained in the bill before us...

The new policies as provided for under this legislation will increase border security and provide for a new, temporary worker program to enable foreign workers to work legally in this country when there are jobs that American workers won't fill. And, it will acknowledge and address in a humanitarian and compassionate way the current undocumented population... Why not say to those undocumented workers who are working the jobs that the rest of us refuse, come out from the shadows, earn your citizenship in this country. You broke the law to come here, so you must go to the back of the line, pay a fine, stay employed, learn our language, pay your taxes, obey our laws, and earn the right to be an American."

May 25, 2006 - John McCain 

"It is time for Congress to act. So I would like to take a moment to recognize the hard work of my colleagues, Senators Kennedy and McCain. They have introduced legislation that I believe would address many of the issues plaguing the current system. The Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act would vastly improve border security, and would bring meaningful reform to our immigration system in a way that reflects economic reality and the value of keeping families together. I commend them for their efforts, and I intend to support their bill when it comes before the Committee, which I hope will be soon."

July 26, 2005 - Russ Feingold, JD 

"...of the bills before us, only the McCain-Kennedy approach comes close to being practical... The compromise solution in the McCain-Kennedy legislation posits a set of conditions that illegal immigrants must meet if they are to earn legal status. They must register with the government, pay all back taxes and a $2,000 fine, then fulfill a six-year work requirement before they can apply for green cards. At that point, they must prove they have been studying English and civics, and no one now present illegally in the U.S. will be granted a permanent visa before those now waiting in their home countries. It’s not a perfect solution: even fines and conditions may strike some Americans as too generous, and perhaps there is a better answer waiting in the wings. Still, sometimes the perfect is the enemy of the good, and on the matter of the 11 million, McCain-Kennedy is the best proposal on the table so far."

July 26, 2005 - Tamar Jacoby 

"The National League of Cities’ policy essentially embraces the approach proposed in the McCain/Kennedy Bill and we believe that it offers the best set of solutions to this very challenging national problem as well as a guideline for Dubuque [Iowa]’s  future in regard to this important issue... In our policy we see many points of convergence with the bi-partisan McCain/Kennedy bill and urge the conference committee to work out the area of disagreement to produce a strong, comprehensive approach which will benefit all areas of our country, both rural and urban."

Sep. 1, 2006 - National League of Cities (NLC) 

"I remain committed to comprehensive reform, but I cannot support a deeply flawed bill... We've had weeks of constructive debate on very important issues for our nation, but I've come to the conclusion that the Senate immigration bill as written still has serious flaws and is not a net plus for our country. So I cannot support it. I strongly believe the federal government has neglected our border security and immigration system for too long, and our country badly needs a comprehensive reform bill to correct decades of inaction. But in its current form, this bill is not where it needs to be."

May 25, 2006 - John Cornyn, LLM 

"Senate bill 2611 does not have the House's 4437 strong employer sanctions provisions; limits the scope of border security fencing; and, incredibly, requires U.S. officials to 'consult' with both the Mexican government and 'the affected communities' (i.e., open-borders activists) before even being permitted to begin enacting these security barriers. In effect, a foreign government and a vocal minority have been given the power to delay the type of security arrangements deemed necessary to protect the United States of America.

Supporters of Senate 2611 claim that 'comprehensive' reform involves 'tough requirements'—notably, the claim that illegal immigrants must 'pay all back taxes' and 'go to the back of the line' on citizenship. Actually, Reid-Kennedy provides that former illegal immigrants would have to pay no more than three of five years’ back taxes—a privilege denied to the rest of us. What is more, they are allowed to form a new line for citizenship, ahead of people who are already waiting legally in their home countries."

Sep. 1, 2006 - John Fonte, PhD 

"I believe that we're here to explore what S. 2611, the Senate Bill, would do to our country, and I believe personally that it would be catastrophic... A nation's primary responsibility is to provide for the safety and security of its citizens and yet, for reasons I cannot begin to fathom, the Members of the Senate who voted for S. 2611 are seemingly oblivious to the lessons that the disastrous amnesty of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, or IRCA, should have taught us.

If, for argument's sake, we figure on a number of 15 million illegal aliens... succeed in racing into the United States and make false claims that they have been here for the necessary period of time to be eligible to participate in the amnesty program that the Reid-Kennedy provisions would reward illegal aliens with, then we might expect some 35 million illegal aliens will ultimate participate in that insane program."

Sep. 1, 2006 - Michael W. Cutler 

"I am feeling confident—very confident—about our chances to kill off the horrible S.2611 – the Bush Amnesty and Immigration Acceleration Bill. And when I think about the list of rats that would go down along with the S. 2611 ship, I confess that I am overjoyed. First, the House knows that our argument to secure the borders first and grant amnesty never is the only intelligent position. S. 2611 is off the wall. Even if the Senate offers up olive branches like throwing out the Social Security provision in S. 2611 exchange for amnesty, it’s still no sale. Social Security for aliens and the other similarly preposterous amendments are too farfetched to be talking points. Plus we don’t need to double or triple legal immigration. Second, the Congressmen would like to be re-elected. They won’t be if they cave in on S. 2611. Third, and this is no small thing, S. 2611 is not administratively manageable. Has anyone wondered how many hundreds of millions of pieces of paper would have to be processed to legalize tens of millions of aliens? Forget it."

June 2, 2006 - Joe Guzzardi