[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 44 (Wednesday, April 20, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 20, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
   ILLEGAL ALIENS ARE VOTING IN CALIFORNIA--THAT PROBLEM NEEDS TO BE 
                      SOLVED ON A BIPARTISAN BASIS

  (Mr. HORN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HORN. Mr. Speaker, Mario Alberto Martinez, who murdered the 
Mexican Presidential candidate, Luis Donald Colosio, was an illegal 
alien. He was also a member of a political party in California, in this 
case he had registered as a Democrat.
  A few days ago, channel 9, KCAL-TV in Los Angeles, interviewed a 
number of illegal aliens. One they interviewed was a registered 
Republican. So this is not a party problem. This is an American citizen 
problem as to who should have the franchise in our country.
  The board of supervisors of Los Angeles County is now having this 
situation investigated, but as a lot of us said when we passed that so-
called motor-voter registration bill, we will have more voter fraud in 
this country, more misuse of the franchise, and more illegals 
registering.
  To my colleagues who are not from California, the fact that we have 
52 seats in the House is due--at least in the case of 4 or 5 of those 
52 seats--to our illegal alien population. We also need to work in a 
bipartisan manner to solve that problem.
  Back to Mr. Martinez. He was a border inhabitant who ranged freely 
from the slums of Tijuana to the streets of Los Angeles, where he 
registered to vote in 1990 and 1993. You decide which is worse: that he 
was able to freely cross the border, or that a public agency conferred 
upon him the hard-won benefit of democracy.
  While we may see the right to vote as a precious right, apparently 
Mr. Martinez did not. While he registered twice in Los Angeles County, 
he never bothered to vote, perhaps more interested in expressing his 
political preferences by the bullet rather than the ballot. One might 
ask why he would risk detection to register?
  Vote registration cards are often used for identification when one 
applies for public benefits. We need to tighten requirements for public 
assistance to ensure that illegal aliens do not receive public 
benefits. We also need a counterfeit-proof Social Security card. The 
President has said he is for it. Until welfare agency workers and 
private employers can determine whether someone is truly a U.S. 
citizen, we will continue to have illegal aliens seeking both work and 
Government health and welfare benefits. I have cosponsored legislation 
to achieve these goals, but they seem to be stuck in committee. How 
much longer must we wait for action? It is about time many in this 
House awaken. After all the seat we gain in the census of the year 
2000, might just be your own.
  Yesterday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors asked the 
district attorney of that county to investigate the extent of illegal 
alien voting.
  Attached are a letter from county supervisor, Michael D. Antonovich, 
and an article of March 30, 1994, from the Los Angeles Times.
                                             Board of Supervisors,


                                        County of Los Angeles,

                                                   March 31, 1994.
     Hon. Steve Horn,
     House Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Steve: It was reported this week that Mario Alberto 
     Martinez, the accused assassin of Mexican Presidential 
     candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio, illegally lived and worked on 
     both sides of the United States-Mexico border. More alarming, 
     however, was the revelation that Martinez was a registered 
     Democrat who could have voted in the United States elections 
     here in Los Angeles County.
       Illegal immigration and its impact on Los Angeles County 
     has reached crisis proportions: The successful registration 
     efforts geared toward illegal aliens evidenced by Mr. 
     Martinez flies in the face of democracy and the privileges 
     and responsibilities of legal citizenship.
       I urge you to draft legislation which will address this 
     critical problem immediately.
           Sincerely,
                                            Michael D. Antonovich,
                                       Supervisor, Fifth District.
                                  ____


         County Ordered to Tighten Rules for Voter Registration

                           (By Shawn Hubler)

       Stunned at reports that accused Mexican assassin Mario 
     Aburto had registered twice to vote in Los Angeles County, 
     the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday ordered county staffers 
     to find ways to prevent such a thing from happening again.
       In a sharp reaction to news accounts that Aburto had lived 
     on both sides of the border and had registered to vote here, 
     the board demanded an accounting from county Registrar-
     Recorder Beatriz Valdez.
       Valdez confirmed that in 1990, Aburto, 23, had picked up a 
     voter registration card at a San Pedro post office, filled it 
     out, affiliated himself as a Democrat, and mailed it in. A 
     glitch in the way he had signed his name forced the county to 
     mail him a new card so he could re-register, she said.
       An affidavit on the form asks the signer to swear under 
     penalty of perjury that they are, among other things, a U.S. 
     citizen. Aburto signed the affidavit using his Mexican 
     appellation, Mario Aburto Martinez, Valdez said.
       When 1992 arrived and he had not voted, the county mailed a 
     routine card to his address in an attempt to update voter 
     rolls, she said. The card was returned, indicating he had 
     moved, and a blank voter registration form was sent to the 
     address to remind the new resident to re-register.
       Valdez said it is unclear whether Aburto used that blank 
     card or another that may have landed in the mailbox of his 
     new address, but in any case, he registered again in 1993. 
     This time, she said, he used the Americanized version of his 
     name, Mario Aburto, and conscientiously noted on the form 
     that he had registered before as Mario Aburto Martinez.
       That registration was processed, Valdez said, but when a 
     new voter registration card was mailed to Aburto's address, 
     it was returned to the county. Following the county's policy, 
     Aburto's registration was canceled.
       Aburto's friends and relatives said this week that his 
     decision to register in 1990 and again in 1993 was based more 
     on a desire to become a legal U.S. resident than any fervent 
     interest in politics.
       He believed that being on the voter rolls would assist him 
     in obtaining papers to remain in the United States and work 
     legally, his relatives said. ``He thought that would help him 
     become a citizen,'' said Ruben Aburto, the accused assassin's 
     father, who lives in San Pedro. ``He wasn't interested in 
     politics.''
       Valdez confirmed that according to county records, the man 
     accused of killing Mexican presidential candidate Luis 
     Donaldo Colosio last week had never voted in the United 
     States.
       Moreover, she added, such fraudulent registrations are 
     rare. ``I've been here for 37 years,'' she said, ``and (in 
     that time), we have had less than a dozen incidents in which 
     a non-citizen has registered.''
       Valdez said that accusations are constantly being made, but 
     evidence of non-citizens registering to vote is rarely 
     produced. ``There's a perception that a lot of non-citizens 
     are out there voting, and we get a lot of calls alleging 
     that,'' she said. ``But when we ask for names, no one can 
     ever provide them.''
       Nonetheless, in a written motion, Supervisor Deane Dana 
     expressed concern about ``the possibility of such illegally 
     registered voters casting ballots and influencing the outcome 
     of American elections.''
       Dana also noted that ``status as a registered voter can be 
     used by those in the country illegally as a form of 
     identification, indicating citizenship which would allow the 
     use of public services * * * to which they are not 
     entitled.''
       Dana instructed Valdez and her staff to find ways to 
     prevent such fraud. But Valdez said the assignment could be 
     difficult.
       Voter registration forms, she noted, are based on an honors 
     system, and, beyond the address of the applicant, very little 
     of the information on them is double-checked.
       New voter registration forms, due out next month, should 
     help, she said. The forms ask the applicant whether they are 
     citizens, and then instruct them not to finish the 
     questionnaire if they are not.
       But beyond that, Valdez said, state laws would have to be 
     changed, and more extensive verification would interfere with 
     the ability of voters to register by mail, an option they 
     have had since 1976.
       Times staff writers Patrick J. McDonnell and Frederick M. 
     Muir contributed to this story.

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