[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 42 (Tuesday, April 12, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H1873]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           IMMIGRATION REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, you know it should be no secret to 
anyone in this body that immigration reform is a top priority for 
millions of Americans, and I doubt that most of us have had a single 
town hall meeting during this past recess when we have not been asked 
by our constituents to address the concerns of illegal immigration. I 
can tell you, I have heard time and again from my constituents who want 
to know why it is so incredibly difficult and it seems so difficult for 
the Federal Government to enforce these immigration laws that are 
currently on the books. They absolutely cannot understand why some 
politicians in Washington seem to fail to understand that illegal 
immigrants are in fact breaking our laws and if they do indeed actually 
cause a security risk.
  As our constituents are preparing to pay Federal income tax, as 
millions of Americans are preparing to pay their Federal income tax 
this week, I was asked time and again in town hall meetings this 
weekend if we did not consider the costs, the extra cost to the 
American taxpayer of illegal immigration. And I can tell you, Mr. 
Speaker, I certainly sympathize with my constituents and I empathize 
with their concerns and their consternation, and I truly share their 
frustration when I read some of the things I read about illegal 
immigration.
  We have an obvious flouting of the laws, and yet there are some who 
think that we should actually ignore this problem. Thankfully, we have 
made some progress this year, and we should credit the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) for much of his hard work and the 
Committee on the Judiciary for much of their hard work when they worked 
on the Real ID Act. This body passed that, and certainly it will beef 
up the identification security measures, many dealing with our driver's 
license provisions. It will speed up the construction of border 
barriers, and it will make it tough for those with terrorist ties to 
gain asylum in the United States. But, Mr. Speaker, I think we all know 
that that is absolutely not enough.
  Just yesterday morning, the Washington Post ran a story with the 
headline ``Probe Faults System For Monitoring U.S. Border.''
  Now I have been working with my colleagues here in the House to 
target waste, fraud and abuse in government spending; and I have also 
been a proponent of tackling our enormous illegal immigration problem. 
The Washington Post story contains just an astounding level of waste, 
fraud, and abuse in spending; and it should be a wake-up call for those 
who do not think immigration reform is a priority. Clearly, the system 
we have got is not working.
  According to a General Service Administration investigation, American 
taxpayers footed the bill for $239 million surveillance system across 
our borders. And what do we have to show for that, sir? A lot of broken 
equipment and lax border security. This is absolutely incredible.
  You have got a bunch of concerned citizens who got tired of all the 
excuses so they have gone down to the Arizona border to observe illegal 
immigration and report to the border agents, and apparently they have 
been pretty effective. Meanwhile, the Federal government has a $239 
million pile of useless equipment.
  This is waste, fraud, and abuse; and this is lack of attention to 
border security. This is an issue that has my constituents talking at 
length in town halls, talking about how we are spending the tax money 
that they are writing the check for this very week.
  This article is further confirmation of our belief that the borders 
are too open, our system is too easily abused and our government is not 
doing enough. I hope that my colleagues will join me in my effort to 
eliminate the seemingly endless examples of waste, fraud, and abuse of 
taxpayer dollars.
  Mr. Speaker, to those who have been opposing immigration reform for 
years now, the time has come for America to address the growing problem 
of illegal immigration. Our constituents and our national security 
demand it.

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