Senator John Cornyn has strongly defended allegations that his RESULTS amendment amounts to a “poison pill” on the floor of the Senate, insisting that increased border control is an essential condition to bringing to a close what he described as a “credibility gap” in Washington’s plans for immigration reform.
Cornyn joined Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee, Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley, Illinois Democrat Senator Dick Durbin, Vermont Democrat Senator and Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy and Alabama Republican Senator Jeff Sessions as the body once again began considering the comprehensive bill for immigration reform in the United States. The San Antonio Republican claims that his RESULTS amendment would mean that the Department of Homeland Security will have to achieve complete operational control over the southwest border of the US and have an apprehension rate of 90% of undocumented immigrants, as well as enforce a biometric exit/entry system to prevent US visas overstays.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has described the amendment as a “poison pill” intended to kill the hopes for comprehensive immigration reform, but Cornyn insists that it is the failure to carry out what he calls “sensible measures” that is the real poison pill. “My amendment guarantees results, while the Gang of Eight bill only promises results,” he says.
Although some Republicans in the Senate claim that their criticisms of the bill are needed for productive conversation, Leahy has warned against a filibuster, noting that whatever the bill’s flaws, it is “time for us to stop voting ‘maybe’.”