[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 31 (Wednesday, March 12, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H894]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   REPUBLICANS SHOULD LEARN TO TREAT LEGAL IMMIGRANTS WITH THE SAME 
                RESPECT LEGAL IMMIGRANTS GIVE TO AMERICA

  (Mr. GUTIERREZ asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, the Republicans have announced that 
America can expect their budget plan in May.
  I hope they mean May 1997. I should be concerned. That is 1 month 
after the legal deadline for submitting a budget. But I want to be 
positive so I will assume this delay is caused by tireless Republican 
efforts to craft a budget that restores programs taken away from law-
abiding legal immigrants.
  I will assume Republicans are crunching numbers and saying, ``How can 
we restore critical benefits to our needy seniors, our blind and 
disabled, to mothers and their children? How can we treat our legal 
immigrant population with decency and fairness?''
  That ``should'' be the reason for the delay, because legal immigrants 
deserve better than this Congress has given them.
  Immigrants work hard. The fact is they pay far more in taxes than 
they receive in benefits. They play by the rules. They are in our 
Nation legally, contributing their energy, hopes, and dreams to our 
Nation.
  May is a long time from now. It should be long enough for my 
Republican friends to learn to treat legal immigrants with the same 
respect legal immigrants give to America.

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