RINGGOLD, Ga. -- U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson told the Catoosa County Chamber of Commerce on Thursday that the federal government needs to do three things to control a growing deficit.
The government needs to spend only what it takes in, prioritize which agencies get funding and give private business incentives to help the country climb out of the recession, he said.
"If the people prosper, the government will prosper," he said.
Speaking to the Chamber five months before he is up for re-election, Sen. Isakson, R-Ga., weighed in on everything from immigration to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the War in Afghanistan. Sen. Isakson is unopposed in the primary but will face the winner from the Democratic ticket in November.
Immigration seemed to be a hot topic when Chamber members asked the lawmaker questions. Fort Oglethorpe Mayor Ronnie Cobb asked Sen. Isakson about the ramifications of Arizona's new immigration law. Considered one of the toughest in the country, the recently passed law makes the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and gives the police the ability to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally.
Sen. Isakson said border between the United States and Mexico must be secured and he was in favor of sending more troops to the border. He said Arizona wasn't doing anything more than enforcing laws already on the books.
"Illegal immigration is disrespectful to those who come in legally and those who were born here," Sen. Isakson said, before the crowd erupted in applause.
Another audience member asked the senator about the current policy of granting citizenship to anyone born on American soil. Sen. Isakson explained that it would take a constitutional amendment to change things, but he would favor a requirement that both parents have to be citizens before an infant would automatically get citizenship.
Chamber member Chris Hunt said he wasn't surprised immigration came up and said he liked the senator's stance on securing the borders.
"You've got to stop illegal immigration before you can fix anything else with immigration," he said.
Earlier in the day, Sen. Isakson discussed immigration, Georgia's water issues and the BP oil leak in the gulf with a Times Free Press editorial board. He told the board he was still in favor of offshore drilling, but oil companies should be required to build in more safety nets.
"They obviously had no Plan B," the senator said. "They had one fail-safe and it failed."
The key, he said, is how the industry and regulators learn from the leak, which he called a "tragic disaster of immense proportions."
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