[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 58 (Wednesday, March 29, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E714-E715]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT OF 1995

                                 ______


                               speech of

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 23, 1995

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4) to 
     restore the American family, reduce illegitimacy, control 
     welfare spending and reduce welfare dependence:

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to oppose amendments which 
restrict the rights of legal immigrants to collect Government benefits, 
such as Medicaid, food stamps, and disability aid.
  [[Page E715]] Denying basic safety net services to non-citizens who, 
in many cases, have resided in the United States for much of their 
lives, discriminates among residents who have paid their taxes, 
contributed to the growth of the U.S. economy, served in the Armed 
Forces, and, like millions of their native-born counterparts, have 
played by the rules in the hope of realizing their own American dream.
  This legislation would erode basic American values by denying equal 
treatment under law to law-abiding taxpayers who have done nothing but 
choose to make the United States their home. This bill punishes legal 
immigrants for making that decision.
  This legislation also robs communities all over the country of the 
taxes paid by legal immigrant residents--taxes that would be taken by 
the Federal Government, but not returned to those same communities in 
the form of health care and other needed benefits. Recent studies show 
that immigrants pay $25 to $30 billion more in taxes each year than 
they use in services. Such funds will no longer flow back to our local 
communities under this bill.
  This bill would also deny basic survival assistance to children who 
are legal permanent residents. Most of these children will go to 
school, and some day work, and pay taxes, and contribute to American 
society together with our own children. Denying them benefits is a 
failure to invest in our own future.
  Mr. Chairman, the anti-immigrant provisions contained in this extreme 
Republican measure are ill-conceived and mean-spirited. They will 
result in increased costs to our cities and States and will worsen the 
discrimination already felt by many in our Nation's immigrant 
communities.
  I urge my colleagues to vote against H.R. 4 and vote for the Mink 
substitute.


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