[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 91 (Wednesday, June 25, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H4379]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                    TRAGIC EXAMPLE OF WELFARE REFORM

  (Mr. HINOJOSA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, I come before Members today to tell them 
about the drastic effects of the welfare reform law passed by the 104th 
Congress. Specifically, I want to share with Members an example of 
someone who has been tragically affected by the welfare reform law.
  Mr. Rosendo Tijerina is a legal immigrant who has worked in Texas for 
11 years. Last November he was involved in a serious auto accident. His 
legs and pelvis were crushed and his heart was injured as well. He is 
now totally disabled.
  Yet under the welfare reform law, Mr. Tijerina is not eligible for 
supplemental security income. He has worked hard, paid his taxes, 
integrated himself and his family into his community and has been a 
contributor to our country's economy. He deserves better treatment than 
this.
  Mr. Tijerina and the other 125,000 legal immigrants who will be 
denied benefits under the law need to have these benefits restored. In 
my own State of Texas more than 34,000 legal immigrants are expected to 
be denied benefits.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that these people be given some consideration.

                          ____________________