May 25- Key Vote Letter on Immigration s.2611

TO THE MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE:

The United States Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region, supports final passage of S. 2611, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006. The bill is the product of detailed, intense bipartisan negotiations which resolved many difficult issues and incorporates many amendments that were fully debated and voted on.

The Chamber has long been urging Congress to fix our broken immigration system through legislation which would secure our borders, create an employment verification system that is fast and reliable, design a temporary worker program that meets the current and future demand for workers, and would provide avenues for certain undocumented workers to achieve legal status and ultimately lawful permanent residency, provided strict criteria are met. As the President has stated, all of these elements must be part of any rational immigration reform initiative.

While S. 2611 constitutes a sound legislative blueprint which addresses both the security and economic needs of the country, we recognize that S. 2611 is far from a perfect piece of legislation. Thus, we will seek further changes during the conference with the House to improve the legislation in several important areas, many of which are technical. Notwithstanding, it is still imperative that the Senate moves the process forward by voting to pass S. 2611. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce looks forward to working with Congress and the Administration as this important initiative progresses.

The Chamber urges you to vote "YES" on final passage of S. 2611, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, and will consider using the vote on final passage in our annual How They Voted scorecard.

Sincerely,

R. Bruce Josten
Executive Vice President, Government Affairs