Date: 2006-09-21
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker.. as the ranking member has mentioned. I am a member of the Immigration Subcommittee and also the Homeland Security Committee. As a consequence. I had an opportunity to participate in some of these. socalled immigration hearings in the last several months. I must say that the impression that one receives. the inevitable impression. is that there has been a lot of talk. but as they say in the South. not much walk. Unfortunately. I think today is more of the same. Since 1995. when the Senate and House gained their Republican majorities. 5.3 million undocumented immigrants have come into the United States. Since 2001. when President Bush assumed the Presidency. over 2 million undocumented immigrants came into the United States. We have seen 12 years. basically. 12 years of Republican rule in the House and Senate. their power. and basically nothing has happened. Nothing has happened. And now with 5 legislative days left before we adjourn and go out to meet our voters. there are these bills that are being brought to the floor that havent had hearings. that dont scratch the issues of the real security issues that face us. Interesting enough. these bills dont even come close to what several of the witnesses at what Congressman FLAKE termed the "faux" hearings in August. what those witnesses told us. For example. Sheriff Lee Baca of Los Angeles County. I think .the largest sheriffs jurisdiction in the country. said he supported comprehensive reform. not piecemeal reform and sets of bills that failed to address the full border security issue. I think if we take a look at the substance of these bills. and I dont think that is even what is intended here. but if we do. we will see how little these proposals would actually accomplish. No one is going to stick up for criminal alien gangs. not me. not anybody. But the provisions in the act are not going to be effective. The State and local cooperation. the enforcement of the Immigration Law Act. does.not require police to report immigration status of crime victims. and it really is not going to do what I think the authors -suggest. Title II. is a provision. it is a sense of the Congress that the Attorney General should adopt guidelines for the prosecution of smuggling offenses. That should have been done quite some time ago. It reminds me of the bill that we passed earlier this week. and I was unable to be on the floor. where we urge that the Attorney General and the Department .of Homeland Security gain control of our borders in 18 months time. What about now? What about the last 12 years? So again. we are going through pretty much a charade here. Meanwhile. the President zeroed out funding for the State criminal alien assistance program. Really every year since 2001 he has zeroed it out. and the Republicancontrolled Congress barely funded it at half of what was authorized. In fiscal year 2006. Congress only appropriated $405 million even though $750 million was authorized. The list of failures goes on and on. but the truth or the proof is in the pudding. And I think as voters take a look at a situation that is not a good one. the border is not orderly. at millions of illegal aliens who have come in under the watch of the Republican Congress and see here today the scrambling around to look like we are doing something. I think they will understand that they are being played for fools.