I thank the Members of the Senate and members of my administration who worked so hard on the border security and immigration reform bill. I'm sorry the Senate was unable to reach agreement on the bill this morning.
Legal immigration is one of the top concerns of the American people, and Congress's failure to act on it is a disappointment. The American people understand the status quo is unacceptable when it comes to our immigration laws. A lot of us worked hard to see if we couldn't find common ground, and it didn't work.
Congress really needs to prove to the American people that it can come together on hard issues. The Congress needs to work on comprehensive energy policy and good health care, making sure health care is affordable without inviting the Federal Government to run the health care system. We've got to work together to make sure we can balance this Federal budget, not overspend or raise taxes on the American people. And we've got a lot of work to do.
When they come back from the summer—from the July recess, before the summer break begins, we'll be focusing on the appropriations process. And I look forward to working with Congress to balance our budgets and to be wise about how we spend the people's money.
Thank you for your time.
NOTE: The President spoke at 12:38 p.m. in Connelly Hall at the Naval War College. In his remarks, he referred to S. 1639. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.
George W. Bush, Remarks on the Senate's Failure to Pass Immigration Reform Legislation in Newport Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/275852
