[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 42 (Monday, April 18, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 18, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                   THE BURDENS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
February 11, 1994, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Goss] is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, crime and deficit reduction are top issues. 
Last Friday, millions of Americans wrote checks to Uncle Sam to meet 
their Federal tax obligations. Families are working harder, paying more 
and getting less for their money. With the Federal Government growing 
ever bigger and spending far beyond our means every year--State and 
local governments and American taxpayers are increasingly being asked 
to pick up the slack--to find the resources to pay for the demands and 
shortcomings of Federal policies. Now, backed into a corner by pressing 
needs and an irresponsible Federal Government, States are beginning to 
fight back. In Florida, the Governor has filed a lawsuit against the 
Federal Government, to recoup millions of dollars spent by the State to 
pick up the pieces of our failed national immigration policy. This is 
not a partisan issue--the Governor of Florida is a member of the 
President's own Democratic Party. The fact is that Florida cannot 
afford to pay the estimated $884 million annual bill for the 345,000 
illegal aliens living within its borders, using its health services, 
attending its schools, and crowding its prisons. In our State, we spend 
more than $50 million a year to keep more than 3,000 illegal criminal 
aliens in prison--sapping critical resources needed to ensure that 
dangerous criminals are kept locked up. It is clearly the 
responsibility of the Federal Government to protect U.S. borders and 
control immigration. Yet, nationwide, there are an estimated 4 million 
illegal immigrants living within our borders. Since the early 1980's, 
Federal officials charged with controlling these borders have openly 
admitted failure. Today, the situation is desperate and its 
consequences are enormous. According to the INS, 85 percent of all 
undocumented aliens live in six States--Florida, California, New York, 
Texas, Illinois, and New Jersey--causing tremendous budgetary 
pressures. Although Congress in 1986 authorized the Federal Government 
to reimburse States for this ongoing immigration emergency, to date the 
State of Florida has received no such funds. This is yet another 
Federal promise left unfilled. In fact, not only is the Federal 
Government abdicating its financial responsibility to the States, but 
it is now cutting back on the national border-control services it 
already supplies. Last week, we were told that INS is slashing its 
finger-print verifications of potential immigrants. The INS calls this 
$3 million service an expensive, labor-intensive process. This is truly 
penny-wise and pound-foolish. What are the relative costs of this 
commonsense screening program when compared with the cost of the World 
Trade Center bombing and other violent acts by criminals who make it 
through the leaky sieve of U.S. borders?

  This week the House will continue deliberation of an omnibus crime 
bill. But, as we discuss the need for more prisons, more cops on the 
streets, more neighborhood programs and tougher sentencing, we have got 
to come to terms with the cost of illegal immigration and its serious 
impact on our criminal justice system. The majority leadership shut out 
a key amendment to establish a criminal alien tracking center, beef up 
deportation procedures and crack down on criminal aliens. This is a 
missed opportunity to bring the Federal Government back into 
partnership with the States in managing immigration. Yes, we will have 
the chance to debate whether we need 6,000 additional border patrol 
agents, and we will have the chance to reaffirm our commitment to the 
1986 law that mandates Federal reimbursement to the States for some of 
the costs of illegal and criminal immigration. But before anyone gets 
the wrong impression that the Federal Government is finally stepping up 
to its responsibility, keep in mind that the crime bill, for all its 
good intentions and promises, comes to the House floor without a 
funding mechanism. Once again, it seems, the Federal Government is 
failing to back up its policies with the resources needed to get the 
job done.
  Americans are compassionate people whose first instinct is to come to 
the aid of those in need. Our Nation is still viewed as a haven, a land 
of opportunity for people around the world. But we are also a Nation of 
finite resources, and the Federal Government's blank check has bounced. 
Everyone will have a reminder of that every April 15 from now to 
eternity. But I say to my colleagues, ``When you send in your check to 
the Government make sure it doesn't bounce. That's against the law.''

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