This is the Summit thread.

On October 12th, I will announce the official Opening, and make brief opening remarks.

I will then hand the floor over to Secretary Wayne Gomez who is the first key note speaker.

Other key note speakers will follow immediately after, and after they are finished, and everyone has heard the different speeches, the general debate, which is open to everyone from every Party, can begin.

Everyone is encouraged to speak and participate.

All members who speak may issue PR if they choose too, including key note speakers.

At the end of the day, Wayne Gomez will summarize proccedings and close the day with a speech. he might even give away freee drinks if you catch on a good day!

After Wayne, the keynote speakers are as follows and will run in this order:

Senator Lance Cahill

Senator Andy Suchorski

Congressman Ogden Chichester

Attorney General Evan Kennedy

Congressman John Spanegello

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to welcome each and every one of you to the White House.

Thank you for attending. I know that the Preisdent very much hopes some productive ideas will come out of today.

Our nation faces a growing immigration problem. We need to secure our borders, but equally as important, we need a firm and fair immigration system.

As dangerous as porous borders are, equally as dangerous is pandering to knee jerk reactions.

America is an nation of immigrants. We will continue to be so. Even if we built the highest walls around our nation, we would continue to be so. our way of life offers so much.

In dealing with this issue, we deal not with a system, but ultimately with individuals who seek nothing more than our fore fathers sought - simply, a better life.

We must ensure that the hopes and aspirations that compel people to see a new life here in the United States are realised in the same hopes and aspirations as generations past.

I look forward to hearing much debate and commentary today.

On behalf of the President and the Vice President, welcome.

I now hand the floor to our first speaker, Secretary of Agriculture Wayne Gomez III

as Mr Gomez has clearly been delayed, I will turn the floor over to the next speaker - Senator Cahill.

Good afternoon,

I am speaking in lieu of the other previous speakers. This issue is one that is so far-reaching it is taking the attention of all of the heavy-hitters in this country.

As a South Dakota congressman immigration may not seem to be an issue with which I would occupy my time, but is is vitally important.

But the best approach to immigration is often controversial. I am asking today for courage from my colleagues. Courage to do the right thing by immigrants and this country. We all know we're a country of immigrants. All of us can reach back into our multi-generational memory and remember the Old Country at some point. This melting pot aspect of this country is what makes us strong.

And further strength will come only from courage. It's not very courageous to give the applause lines or play to one's base. We could harp on and on about the extreme means of dealing with immigration, but the key is courage. We must have enough heart to reach across divides and bring together all the best ideas under one roof. It will take courage to compromise, courage to shun credit-taking.

Our children's children will not long remember it was Congressman X or Senator Y who helped solve the problems associated with this vitally important issue. We can either condemn them to paying for our mistakes, or we can take that bold, brave step of surrendering our egos and ourselves for the greater good of this collective enterprise, this America.

I call upon my colleagues to sift and weigh, and then produce the best possible solution devoid of partisanship and personalities. Let is stand alone as a testament to our enduring desire to make this a great land of a great people.

Thank you.

Thank you Ogden. Excellent points.

In lieu of other speakers, i would like to open the floor up to all members for debate and comments as appropriate.

Members who are due to speak, may of course still post their speeches, but the running order has in effect being sidelined.

The floor is now open.

Good afternoon,

As many of you might know, I am Senator Andy Suchorski from Wisconsin. I would like to thank Congressman Ginblossom for this opportunity to speak, and I would like to thank all of you for attending today.

I am from Wisconsin, and many of you might be thinking what this guy knows about boarder control. Well, I will admit, I am not the most knowledgeable in this subject. But I am speaking here today because I understand it is a huge issue and is a big problem that we have to deal with. Illegal immigration and our lack of boarder control is a huge issue in today's society. Illegal immigration does not just hurt the economy, but it endangers America's national security. There are three points I would like to address today: The effect on the economy, the effect on national security, and solutions to this problem.

First, the effect on our economy. There are two sides to this argument. One is let them in because they take jobs Americans don't want. The second is keeping them out because they cost Americans jobs. I am a believer in the second argument. While I agree these are jobs most Americans don't want, there are still many people unemployed. I would much rather give a low paying job to a deserving American that an illegal immigrant. They take away jobs that help the economy. Our economy is very uncertain, and it is very important that we don't lose any more jobs. With so many jobs being outsourced, this is just insult to injury. And what is really sad to me is that some people support this. I just can't stand for that.

The second reason is national security. Every new day is a new war on terrorists across the globe. We do a terrible job of keeping terrorists outside of the country, and this is one of the reasons. There are many underground tunnels that terrorists and illegal immigrants take to get into the country. There are holes in our fences, and there are holes in our boarder, literally. This only increases the chance that a terrorist will bring a bomb into the country, or God forbid a weapon of mass destruction. Boarder control is key to keeping America safe, and it is the biggest reason why we must work toward improving it.

The economy and national security are the two biggest reasons why we must work to stop illegal immigration. But our biggest problem is how we start doing this. I have proposed a bill into Congress called the Defending the Great Lakes Act. This bill gives the coast guard more money to break up into two divisions in the Great Lakes. The bill will give them more resources to cover the Great Lakes. In a way, we must do the same thing in the southwest. While there are few waterways, we can imply the same idea to land. Lets break up our police forces down there and our national guard into more divisions, give them more resources to combat illegal immigration. Lets hire more people, fund this project more, and keep America safe.

In my other bill, the Defeating Terror Act Reloaded, gives proper funding to boarder control. This is a step in the right direction. This problem will not solve itself, and most likely, we will never be able to keep 100% of the people out, but it is time to step up our efforts to keep America safe.

Thank you.

Greetings distinguished members of the White House Summit on Immigration,

I was honored when I was asked to be a keynote speaker at this vital summit, on such an important issue facing America today.

All of us here are a descendent of an immigrant who came to America looking for a better life. Mine came from Ireland, Germany, and England, and I am sure a vast variety of different nationalities are represented here today. My point is that most of us here would not be here without the courtesy of our ancestors immigrating to America, the great land of opportunity. Immigrants come to our nation to be able to succeed and to provide better for their families. For they know America is the land of opportunity and great people. The United States must always continue to support and to facilitate safe legal immigration, for legal immigration helps to grow America economically in leaps and bounds. America has always been the nation that accepts immigrants with open arms, and America must continue to be that nation. But America is also facing a very serious issue having to do with immigration, and that is illegal immigration.

Far too long America has ignored one of the biggest security laps that could be exploited, exploited big. Our boarders are too lax and we have turned a blind eye to that problem. We have not done enough to stop the flow of illegal immigration, and the illegal flow is evidence of that. Our nation needs strong boarders, but those boarders need to be open towards those who want to get here legally, and what to contribute to our nation. We need strong, but open boarders. Xenophobia cannot creep into our legislation concerning the United States� boarders, but ignorance cannot creep into our legislation either.

We have been ignorant of our boarders, and the security risk they pose to the United States and her citizens, and that is unacceptable. We must stride in this summit to find effective ways to stop illegal immigration, yet promote legal and safe immigration. Immigration does help our economy, and we need to encourage it, but we need to strongly discourage illegal immigration with a stronger presence on the boarder, and with stronger legislation. It must be the focus of the United States Congress, and the White House, that illegal immigration is not welcome in our country, but legal migrants are. We do not know who is crossing the boarder illegally, for our presence is very weak and meager at the boarders of the United States of America.

Our Homeland Security agency needs to desperately focus on the boarder, and we need to effectively stop illegal immigration. For the security of the United States relies on it, and the citizens we represent rely on it. Too many people are crossing our boarder unaccounted for, and that is reprehensible. We need action, and we need it now. All of the billions of dollars we spend a year for Homeland Security cannot secure the United States if we have too much of a loose boarder, and then our security is compromised.

And so I end my address to this summit by concluding we must continue to secure the boarder, we must readily assist legal immigration, we must readily stop illegal immigration, and we must truly secure the United States of America by stopping those who come into our nation who intend to harm our citizens and our institutions. We must step up to the plate and hit a homerun for America, by truly securing our nation, by securing our boarders. I once again thank all of you for allowing me speak to you today, it has been an honor. I hope we all can work together at this summit to find a viable solution to our problem of immigration. Thank you and God Bless.

Good afternoon to all in attendance here today at the White House Summit on Immigration. I would like to thank Mr. Ginblossom for having me here today.

First, let me state that like some of the speakers earlier today. I too am an immigrant like all of us. My father's side arrived here by way of slave trading. My mother's side of the family is from Puerto Rico. My grandmother came to America as a young 18 year old through Ellis Island. So, I believe that many of our immigrants can and will be productive workers. My family and many other families are evidence of that. I would just quickly outline some points that I think are of much importance to this conversation on how to deal with immigration.

Immigrants are of importance to us. They impact our economy some would say positively some would argue negatively. I believe in the former. Immigrants have been known to take undesirable jobs that most Americans do not want to do. It is a plain and simple fact. I do not believe that I should be in a position to hinder someone from working to bring food and opportunity to family members. If someone is willing to do the work. I don't mind them having that job.

Many argue that immigrants take away from American jobs and keep wages down for Americans. Obviously, I cannot refute that immigrants do take jobs away from Americans. The jobs that they do not want top do. I do not see any evidence that backs up any claims that immigrants keep wages down for other Americans. When we decide if we believe American workers deserve a national minimum wage increase. We won't be arguing whether immigrants have any basis in our opinions or claims. In our free-market enterprise employers base wage off of supply and demand like many other things. Yet, the few jobs that most Americans do not want to do. Do not impact the rest of our huge workforce.

In closing for I do not want to take up too much time. I would say that we do need to address illegal immigration. It is a problem I will not be blind or ignorant to. We need to strengthen our borders. We need to increase the funding and man power of the Border Patrol. Getting rid of vigilantes and so called "minute men." I also believe that we should not shut off opportunity to immigrants, because of the worry of terrorists. For some terrorists of 9/11 came to America legally. Timothy McVeigh and Eric Rudolph were home-grown terrorists. America is susceptible to any attack from any person. Whether it is from an American or whether it is from an immigrant. I do not believe we should penalize or shut opportunity off for immigrants, because disillusioned people feel they need to act out. We need immigration reform, and we need to strengthen our borders. Yet, we should not shut immigrants out of this great country. Thank you for having me here today.

Good afternoon, gentlemen. It is certainly a pleasure to be here today with so many of my distinguished colleagues. The following speech is a bit on the passionate side, but that is the way I truly feel on this issue.

I am an immigrant! The truth is we are all immigrants who have migrated from a different place whether it be a generation ago or five, we are all immigrants. When my grandfather came over from Sicily in 1903, he was seeking a new life and a fresh start in the land of opportunity. At the age of seventeen my grandfather made the dangerous journey from Palermo to Ellis Island. The Statue of Liberty greeted my grandfather and lest we forget inscribed forever in his mind was The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus: �Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand a mighty woman with a torch, whose flame is the imprisoned lightening, and her name mother of exiles.� My grandfather came to America with less than a dollar to his name and made his living as a plumber; scraping enough money together to send his only son to University. My father in turn made his way in America and eventually became a successful entrepreneur in the true American spirit. Now his son is a Congressman which, hopefully, speaks well for his family�s accomplishment. Thus, is the way of America. The first generation scrapes by; grateful for their chance to live in America, yet still at the bottom rung of society. Each generation builds on the achievements of the previous. If this ability of foreigners to immigrate is taken away and eroded than we should tear down the Statue of Liberty in the name of prejudice as we are not worthy of the poem Emma Lazarus wrote to raise funds for this monument of hope and testament to liberty.

Every single politician on this sacred hill owes a debt to immigration that no amount of ignorance can remove. Immigrants often are content to take, what naturalized Americans would think of as �lowly�, employment which fills the gap of �untouchable jobs�. There is a common myth that immigration causes many �Native� Americans to lose their jobs, but it is actually a blatant misconception. Indeed, most studies today show that immigrants actually lead to an increase in the number of jobs available, not a decrease. Immigrants propagate jobs in a number of ways: They expand the demand for goods and services through their own consumption; They bring savings with them that contribute to overall investment and productivity; They are more highly entrepreneurial than native-born Americans and create jobs through the businesses they start; They fill gaps in the low and high ends of the labor markets, producing subsidiary jobs for American workers; low-wage immigrants may enable threatened American businesses to survive competition from low-wage businesses abroad; and they contribute to increased economic efficiencies through economies of scale. There is another common myth that the primary objective of immigrants is to live of government handouts. Not only is this down right prejudiced, it is also plain wrong. A recent study in the city of New York found that a mere 7.7% of immigrants were receiving welfare compared to 13.3% for the population as a whole. Even on a national scale, studies show that 12.8% of immigrants were receiving welfare benefits, compared to 13.9% of the general population. immigrants can prove to be highly skilled in their own right and fill gaps in key intellectual fields. The recent passage of the Free Movement of Human Capital Act will benefit the American economy for many years to come in countless ways. This is the type of action we need from politicians.

America is indeed a nation of immigrants. Those politicians that ignore that fact and impose stemming immigration altogether are not only deceiving hypocrites, but are also traitors to their forefathers and ought to be removed from office by their constituents. However, I am optimistic that many of my colleagues, as I have witnessed today, who stand for freedom and justice will stand with me in supporting increased legal immigration which will decrease illegal immigration and make it easier to control. That is all I have to say today and I sincerely hope my fellow Americans, native born or not, will support my endeavors to revitalize the American dream. I would like to thank the organizers of this event for inviting me and insuring that all voices are heard. I will now yield to the next speaker. I would like to end with a quote by Thomas Jefferson, �the natural right which all men have of relinquishing the country in which birth or other accident may have thrown them, and seeking subsistence and happiness wheresoever they may be able, and hope to find them.

Thank you.

Closing remarks:

I would like to thank everyone for attending today.

There has been some eloquent speeches and insightful views. I particularly enjoyed the moving and informative speech by John Spanegello.

Whilst some members have not been able to speak, all those who did attend and did not get a chance to speak on the floor, may issue PR including the text of what they would have said.

I close the summit and thank everyone who participated.