Mr. Gregg: Thank you Madam President, I want to join with Senator Byrd in sponsoring his amendment which is a right and proper amendment in the context of the cost of containing our borders and the fact that most of that cost is incurred as a result of only legal activity occurring on the border and especially people coming across the borders illegally. The amendment essentially adds $500 to the fee which, as I understand the way it's constructed, will not be actually called upon unless the Appropriations Committee determines that it needs the money in order to improve the border security. It's likely that it will be called upon because we do need those funds to improve border security.

We know, for example -- and the total amount that this would raise, as the Senator from West Virginia has pointed out, is about $3 billion, $2.8 billion. That's a lot of money, as he pointed out $3 for every hour, I think he said, since the birth of Jesus. It's, however, only a small amount of what's going to be necessary in order to properly security the borders.

It's going to take us about $2 billion to move forward a fully implemented sensor technology on the border. We know it will cost approximately $2 billion in addition to the $2 billion I just mentioned, to do a fully integrated communications system on the border. And we're talking here about the borders, not just the Southern border. We know that in order to upgrade the air fleet, which is extremely aged, the P-3's being almost 20 years over their useful life, the helicopters being 20 years over their useful life, that it will be another $2.4 billion. So there is great need for funds to adequately secure the border. And I think we have all agreed in this Senate -- and I think it's the consensus of the American people -- that the first effort in the area of controlling illegal immigration should be the securing of our borders and especially our Southern border, which has been the point of most concern relative to illegal immigrants coming across.

And so this amendment says, well, if you're going to obtain citizenship in what has been described as earned citizenship, an element of that earning of citizenship, since you're already here illegally, according to the 12 million people who would be qualified for this and be subject to this additional fee, an element of earning that citizenship is to pay a fee, much as you would pay a fine for violating the law. Which is what happened here. In addition, of course, they go to the back of the line and they have to show so many years of having worked here in the United States in a constructive way and they can't have violated American laws. But part of the element of earning that citizenship is to pay a fine.

What we're suggesting is that in addition to the base fine, which is presently now I believe at $2,750 after all the amendments on the floor, we would add an additional $500. So the fine would essentially be -- or the fee -- however you want to describe it, depending on which side of the debate you're on, you use different terminology but it's the same thing -- a person seeking to change their status from illegal to legal would have to pay this fee, it would be $3,250 total, $500 of which would go to helping us secure the border so that we wouldn't have this problem in the future, of so many illegals coming across the border. Not in an exceptional amount.

Some are going to argue, that's too much money to ask people to pay. Well, that's really not a lot of money to pay to get in line to become an American citizen. It's a fairly reasonable request in light of the fact that they are already here, they have got a job, they're earning money, they're taking advantage of our society and now they want to participate in the society as legalized citizens, having come in illegally. It is reasonable to ask them to pay this additional fee.

So this $500, which is being proposed by Senator Byrd, is both reasonable in the context of what people should be asked to pay and it's very important in the context of doing an adequate job of protecting our border.

Senator Byrd has been one of the most aggressive and effective advocates for a long time for beefing up border security. He has offered amendment after amendment to try to accomplish this. I have greatly respected and obviously enjoyed working with him on the Subcommittee on Homeland Security relative to trying to improve the borders, relative to all things that that committee addresses. But this has been a special focus of his and he understands this.

And this amendment reflects that understanding, that for all the good intentions and all the good words, if they aren't backed up by resources -- a point I've made on this floor enumerable times and which is made by this amendment -- you simply can't accomplish your goal. The goal obviously is to secure the Southern border so to the extent you can do it, you limit people coming in here illegally through the use of an intelligent border security system. That means electronics, it means boots on the ground, it means adequate aircraft, it means adequate unmanned aircraft, it means adequate Coast Guard.

But it all takes dollars. And the Senator from West Virginia has pointed out, the dollars simply haven't been in the pipeline. And the dollars are not in the pipeline, as I have mentioned before on this floor. The budget, which was sent up by the President, by the Administration, requested additional commitment to the border but they used a plug number in the sense that they expected to pay for that with $1.2 billion of increased fees, people flying on airplanes. That's not going to happen. Those fees aren't going to happen, and it's reasonable that they shouldn't happen. People flying on airplanes are not crossing our borders illegally. People flying on airplanes are not using land transportation into this country. The land transportation security system should not be paid for by the air traffic security system. The air traffic security system should pay for itself and to a great extent it does through the taxes put on people who are flying, the TSA is paid for in large part by that. But we shouldn't increase further the taxes on people flying and then take that money and use it on the borders to support land transportation.

I've suggested that maybe we should put a toll down on the border. You know, I mean, it costs me 75 cents to go from Nashua, New Hampshire, to Manchester, New Hampshire, which is about18 miles. Why don't we say-- you know, it costs 50 cents to come across the border. We can raise this money. Well, that's been rejected. I guess there's some treaty issues there and also some cultural issues there.

But this is another approach and it's a good approach. It's to say that the people who abused our border, who took advantage of the fact that we did not have adequate security on our border and came into our country illegally -- listen, when you want to put yourself in a status of a legal citizen, go to the back of the line, earn your citizenship, part of that is to pay the cost of making the border secure.
So the Senator from West Virginia has come up with an excellent proposal. I strongly support it. I certainly hope that the Senate will support it as we go forward. And I yield the floor.