Date: 2006-07-12
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding me some time. I come to the floor this evening to speak out against the Senates amnesty plan because. lets be honest. that is really what it is. Since the Senate decided to forego sensible. I am repeating. sensible border security and grant a sweeping amnesty program to illegal immigrants. everyday citizens have had to virtually consider taking matters into their own hands. Some of my constituents have actually been sending bricks. and why they are sending bricks to us is to send a message to finish the wall. to build the wall so that we have a secure border. That. ladies and gentlemen. is what our constituents want. Obviously. if they feel so compelled to be sending these bricks to Members of Congress. they feel very strongly about it. Mr. Speaker. our borders are hemorrhaging with Americans looking on daily in disgust at the Senates bill and wondering what is going on here in Washington. Instead of tougher border security that Judge Carter has said should be an absolute first step. and enforcing current laws. odr constituents saw the Senate granting a free pass to law breakers. The Senate bill is fundamentally unfair as it applies only to those who broke our laws instead of those who applied legally to come to our country. The Senate bill should be called the "No Illegal Alien Left Behind Act." because it gives aliens. for example. instate tuition rates at colleges. and it prohibits local law enforcement from working in cooperation with border patrol to make sure that our borders are secure and that illegal aliens are apprehended. The bill in the Senate also counts time illegally in our country toward the 10 years. or 40 quarters. that a person must work to be in the Social Security system. That is just wrong. they were here working ill~gally. Even their attempt to get it right is kind of wimpy. They cited English as the "common and unifying language" instead of making it the official language that we all know that it is. The Senate also says that they want a fence. but their language provides one that is too small to really do any good. Further. in the Senate bill. it would allow 217 million new immigrants over the next 20 years. That is twothirds of our current population. That is just not an acceptable public policy. When I was back home over the break. I believe it was during Memorial Day. a young man asked for an appointment. And. Judge. I am sure that when people ask for an appointment. they usually want something. they want us to support something. And I always meet with people who want to meet with me who feel that compelled that they want to spend the time to give me their opinions. And this young man was from Bosnia. And like every Member of Congress. we have people whom we will never forget. who truly touch our hearts. He was 17 years old when we went into Bosnia. and he went over to the American consulate. and he asked for the ability to come to this country as a political prisoner. And he told me a story. that he loves America so much. he actually has applied to become a naturalized citizen. And. of course. I am thinking. Okay. this is where he asks me for something. He did not ask me for anything. He put in his application in 2001 in August. He knew that they were only up to February. But his comment was so poignant. he said. I did everything right. I didnt come here illegally. I came here under political asylum. I applied for the right to be a citizen in your great country. to be a naturalized citizen in your great country. And he said. What really worries me is that we are going to let all of these other people in line. people who came here illegally. People who truly do not. love our country. And his comment. I just will absolutely never forget. His comment was so poignant and he was so passionate. He said. As everyone here. we dont object to their applying to come to this country. but let them do it legally. Do not let it be a backdoor pass to get in the front of the line to become a citizen. I am sure that every Member of Congresss caseload is very similar to mine. You have upwards of probably 200 immigration cases. 200. 300 immigration cases. that every single office is trying to help. These are people who came here legally. These are people who are trying to stay here legally and/ or to bring over some of their relatives. And to count time illegally in our country towards Social Security is something that our forefathers must be turning over in their grave. Judge. I can only assume that. So with the bill that the Senate passes. I am so pleased that Americans can differentiate between the Senate giveaway bill and the House bill that says we need to secure our borders first. When I am back in the district. I tell my constituents. I do not believe government can multitask. I do not believe that we can do both. I think we Ned to secure our borders and then look at some sort of a guest worker program that really works. Certainly. like every Member of Congress. I have businesses in my district who are using immigrant labor. Hopefully. they are legal immigrants. but we want to have a guest worker program that truly works. But first and primarily. we must secure our borders. I do not think that my constituents are any different than the gentleman from Texass constituents. Actually. they probably feel even more passionately about it. I was recently down at the border in El Paso and spoke to some sheriffs there who say. No. secure border. finish the fence. Where we were. there actually was a fence. but they are concerned about all the other areas on the border where there are no fences. And most of the sheriffs along. the southern border have joined together and are working cooperatively with our Border Patrol. And that is a good thing. That is a very good thing. Under the Senate bill. they would be prohibited from doing that. That is not what we want. If we ask our citizens back home what they really believe we should do. they want the borders secured. I was over in my office. and I heard the good judge talking about the fact that other than Mexicans are coming over. So this obviously is not just an issue of border security and immigration. It is a national security issue. Keeping our borders secure is so important. If you do not know who is coming and going across those borders. that is where a danger to our country. to our security. actually exists. Those of us who are parents know that you do not reward bad behavior. I am just not certain that that is the slogan in the Senate. because it appears as if they are rewarding bad behavior. You break the law. you come here. you stay here. we do not know anything about your criminal background. and we are going to reward you. That just is not in the American tradition of fairness. That is not what our citizens want. If the Senate bill only benefits those who came here illegally. overstayed their visa or violated their visa terms. that is not what our citizens want. Do we really want these lawbreakers as new citizens of our great Nation? Should we cave to lawbreakers who take to our streets waving other countries flags and demanding rights? Mr. Speaker. I am not opposed to legal immigration in any way. shape. or form. As a matter of fact. everyone here. their ancestors were immigrants. I have certainly come to respect the process that people go through to become Americans. Obviously. we in Florida. in particular. have a lot of immigrants who came here from a very dictatorial country. Cuba. and these people are some of the most passionate people about the rights of citizenship in America and how the illegals should .go through the process legally. Thed7 want to make sure that their neighbor. the person who may be driving their children on a school bus. that they have had some sort of a background check. They are angry at people who kind of sneak in the back door and thatthose people might get preference to those patiently waiting in line. And you know what? They are right to be angry. Toying with mass amnesty is a slap in the face to those who are fighting to keep our borders secure. If Congress condones the crime of crossing our borders illegally. then what have we been fighting for? If we do not mean what we say and illegal entry is okay. why even have immigration laws at all? The Senate bill is kind of like some fashionable religions that think that the Ten Commandments are just suggestions because they totally ignore the fact that these people have broken the law. So- many of us in this House believe that the key to our homeland security is border security. and I cannot agree with and I cannot support the Senate plan that pits border security against a freeforall amnesty plan. We do not have the resources to hold back the tide of illegal immigrants. and promising amnesty will only bring millions more rushing to our shores. The gentleman from Texas and I worked and spoke very favorably about the bill that we passed in this House. H.R. 4437. And it is a good bill that secures our borders. It is a bill that sends a very strong message that we are not going to tolerate illegal aliens. and one that does not give away citizenship like free candy. When I started receiving these bricks. I initially wrote back to my constituents suggesting that they send them over to the Senate. But I am afraid that once the Senate passed that bill. they will not be sending them. They might be throwing them. Judge Carter. I appreciate the opportunity that you have given me this evening to join you in discussing the differences between the Senate and the House plan.