Reid: America Needs Comprehensive Immigration Reform (U.S. Newswire)

[jefferson_dem]

:patriot:Go HARRY!:patriot:

Reid: America Needs Comprehensive Immigration Reform

To: National Desk

Contact: Jim Manley or Rebecca Kirszner, 202-224-2939, both of the Office of Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid

WASHINGTON, May 15 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid issued the following statement on President Bush's speech tonight on comprehensive immigration reform. A fact check on the President's record on immigration is attached below.

"We need a long-term strategy to fix our broken immigration system. Congress must pass comprehensive immigration reform to secure our borders, enforce our laws, and bring 12 million undocumented immigrants out of the shadows. The president got off to a good start tonight, but now he must stand up to right-wing members of his own party who are working to block Senate action. He should denounce the misguided approach of House Republicans, and exercise his leadership to get the job done."

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FACT CHECK: President Bush

Bush Called on Congress to Fund Manpower Improvements. "Tonight I am calling on Congress to provide funding for dramatic improvements in manpower and technology at the border." (5/15/06)

-- FACT: It Was Bush's Budget That Prevented Border Patrol Agents from Being Deployed. "The law signed by President Bush less than two months ago to add thousands of border patrol agents along the U.S.-Mexico border has crashed into the reality of Bush's austere federal budget proposal, officials said Tuesday. Officially approved by Bush on Dec. 17 after extensive bickering in Congress, the National Intelligence Reform Act included the requirement to add 10,000 border patrol agents in the five years beginning with 2006. Roughly 80 percent of the agents were to patrol the southern U.S. border from Texas to California, along which thousands of people cross into the United States illegally every year. But Bush's proposed 2006 budget, revealed Monday, funds only 210 new border agents." (San Francisco Chronicle, 2/9/05)

<SNIP...SEE MORE AT LINK>

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20060516/pl_usnw/reid__america_needs_comprehensive_immigration_reform320_xml

[ShockediSay]

1. Bush - Americans just cannot believe anything the man says

Read the rest of the fact checks in the linked article