mr. speaker , i thank my friend for yielding me this time , and i rise in strong support of this rule and the underlying legislation . 
we are about to embark on a very new experience for us . 
we all know that september 11 of 2001 changed our lives forever . 
we obviously have had to focus for the first time on our homeland security . 
we know that shortly after september 11 the president of the united states stepped up to the plate and put into place this now cabinet-level department of homeland security , but it obviously took a period of time for us as an institution to put together the structure that would allow for adequate oversight . 
at the beginning of this congress , we established a new permanent standing committee on homeland security , and we selected my extraordinarily able colleague , the gentleman from california ( mr. cox ) xz4000830 , to serve as chairman of the committee on homeland security dealing with jurisdictions that fell within a wide range of other committees . 
we had our committee chairmen and ranking members agree to come together on establishing this new committee on homeland security . 
obviously the jurisdiction is very far-reaching . 
it is jurisdiction which focuses on a lot of new things for us . 
the fact that when we refer to men and women in uniform on the front line , they are no longer just the men and women in our armed forces , they are now men and women who wear the uniforms of firefighters and law enforcement officers . 
we now have , because of the threat , a greater focus on border security . 
we have focused on ensuring that people who pose a terrorist threat to us are not able to get documents that have been easily fabricated in the past . 
frankly , i will say that we are continuing to work on that , and i urge my colleagues to join in cosponsoring h.r. 98 , which will help us produce a counterfeit-proof social security card so we can diminish the flow of illegal immigration with the magnet of jobs that draws people across our southern border and instead allow our border patrol , which is increased in this authorizing legislation , to focus their attention on criminals and those who pose a terrorist threat to the united states of america . 
now what is it that we have done with this rule and the legislation ? 
with the rule , i am very proud of having had , as the gentleman from texas ( mr. sessions ) xz4003670 so ably said a fair rule , and i am proud of the work he has done . 
he was a member of the select committee on homeland security . 
he was unable to serve on the committee in this congress because of the exclusivity of the committee on rules , but as the gentleman from california ( mr. cox ) xz4000830 pointed out , he is serving as the committee on rules liaison focusing on these very important new homeland security issues . 
one of the things that we can do , as we increase the border patrol , if we can pass h.r. 98 , which will decrease by 98 percent the flow of illegal immigrants across our southern border , is letting the border patrol put their time and energy into trying to diminish the flow of criminals and those who pose a terrorist threat to us . 
i urge my colleagues to support that effort . 
but i would note that the rule which has been put together allows for the consideration of 25 different amendments . 
we will be having a full 5 hours of debate on this issue , and i am pleased we made in order a democratic substitute which is 221 pages long , a full substitute which frankly includes many of the amendments that have been proposed by both republicans and democrats . 
a number of those are included in the substitute . 
i am also very proud of the fact that we were with the daughter , son-in-law and grandson of our distinguished ranking minority member , the gentlewoman from rochester , new york ( ms. slaughter ) xz4003780 , and we were able to make in order two amendments which the gentlewoman has proposed to the committee . 
i will say that of those 25 amendments , 13 of them have been offered by democrats , made in order , 10 by republicans , and two are bipartisan amendments with democrats and republicans coming together to deal with this issue . 
so i will say , i believe we are moving into an extremely important area . 
we are going to address a wide range of concerns . 
yes , there are other concerns that we hope can be addressed . 
but the mere passage of this legislation , the mere passage of this legislation and moving it to the president 's desk will , i believe , help us address a lot of the concerns that some whose amendments were not made in order have been trying to address . 
i appreciate my colleagues ' support in this effort . 
