Senator Bob Corker issued a statement on Sunday to clarify that 1,100 pages of the immigration bill have been public since May.
“I’ve seen reports of a ‘1,200 page bill’ no one has read or had time to read.
To be clear, the tough border and interior enforcement provisions that Senator Hoeven and I offered on Friday make up 119 pages added to the 1,100 pages that have been public since May,” said Senator Corker.
He said the Hoeven-Corker amendment "mandates an unprecedented surge of security at the southern border, implements tough interior enforcement to curb de facto amnesty, and helps prevent abuse of federal benefits."
He also said he wanted to "clarify misleading reports that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano would not be required to build an additional 350 miles of fencing along the southern U.S. border under the Hoeven-Corker Border Security amendment:"
Senator Corker said, “I don’t know how to make it any clearer. If the Hoeven-Corker amendment becomes law, 10 years must pass and there must be 700 miles of pedestrian fencing and 20,000 additional border patrol agents along the southern border before a Green Card is issued to those with RPI status. Reports that say otherwise are misleading.”
Section 3 of the Hoeven-Corker amendment makes it clear that before RPIs can adjust to lawful permanent resident status, the Southern Border Fencing Strategy must be implemented, putting in place “no fewer than 700 miles of pedestrian fencing”. The limitation in Section 5 states that DHS has some discretion in where the fencing gets constructed as it drafts its strategy. Section 5 does not reference and therefore does not limit the requirements in Section 3 to establish 700 miles of pedestrian fencing.
Senator Corker also said, “I’ve been in the Senate for six years, and this is the first time that I’ve had the opportunity to vote on a bill that spends $46 billion over 10 years, and, in the same period, returns $197 billion to the Treasury without raising taxes and while promoting economic growth. I don’t know of a business in America that wouldn’t relish that return on investment.”
Read more about the amendment here: http://1.usa.gov/132d2SG.