[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 33 (Monday, March 23, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E441]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             OPPOSE PUBLIC BENEFITS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. RON PACKARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 23, 1998

  Mr. PACKARD. Mr. Speaker, this week a U.S. District Court in Los 
Angeles ruled that key portions of California Proposition 187 are 
unconstitutional. I am absolutely appalled by this declaration, which 
ultimately indicates that taxpayer dollars may be used to benefit 
undocumented immigrants.
  Passed as a ballot initiative in 1994, Proposition 187 broadly denies 
state taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal aliens. This initiative also 
calls for greater cooperation between state authorities and the U.S. 
Immigration and Naturalization Service in the detection of illegal 
aliens. I endorse Proposition 187 and signed the petition to put it on 
the ballot.
  Proposition 187 was supposed to have taken effect on November 9, 
1994; however it has been plagued with controversy since it was passed 
by California voters. Federal Judge Mariana Pfaelzer has declared a 
number of the initiatives are unconstitutional, citing the 1982 Supreme 
Court ruling in Plyler v. Doe which maintained that states could not 
deny public school enrollment to illegal aliens. Although the state 
attorney general's office has indicated it will appeal to the 9th 
Circuit Court of Appeals, the final resolution of this appeal and other 
suits filed by various citizens' groups will likely take years.
  That Americans' hard-earned wages should be used to support 
immigrants who reside in this nation illegally is totally unacceptable. 
Mr. Speaker, I will not stand for such injustice.
  Congressman Brian Bilbray (R-CA) has introduced H.R. 7, the 
Citizenship Reform Act to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act and 
deny citizenship at birth to children born in the U.S. of parents who 
are not citizens or permanent resident aliens. In addition, Congressman 
Bob Stump (R-AZ) has introduced H.R. 347, which will effect a 
moratorium on immigration by aliens other than refugees, priority 
workers, and the spouses and children of United States citizens.
  Mr. Speaker, I am cosponsor of both of these pieces of legislation 
because I believe something must be done and it is up to us to act now. 
I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 7 and H.R. 347 in order to ensure 
that taxpayers' dollars are benefitting taxpayers, not illegal aliens.

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