[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 33 (Wednesday, March 15, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H1056]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         AMNESTY WORKER PROGRAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE. Madam Speaker, with the overwhelming problem of illegals in 
this country, some in this Congress want to make it worse. They think 
that an amnesty worker program is the answer to this problem, and 
tomorrow the Senate Judiciary Committee will be meeting to consider an 
amnesty worker program as a solution to the problem. I could not 
disagree more.
  A program granting amnesty for millions of lawless illegals that are 
already breaking the law by being here defies common sense. We heard 
that illegals will take jobs Americans won't take. Well, there is 
absolutely no proof of this assertion. Also, this statement is an 
insult to the American worker. The jobs illegals sometimes get are 
below minimum wage, thus driving down the value of American workers. 
This program is another way of outsourcing American jobs but by 
bringing the foreigners to our country rather than shipping the jobs to 
their country.
  Under proposals here in Congress, there is no limit to the number of 
workers allowed to enter; and they would be allowed to bring with them 
their families. And did I mention that they are expected to leave then 
after 6 years? We already know that 60 percent of the people who 
legally came into the United States never left after their visas 
expired. What makes us think this time will be different?
  With an amnesty worker program come the worker's family members who 
will need the use of our public school systems, health care, public 
housing and other social services. Where is this money going to come 
from, Madam Speaker? Well, it is going to come from the American 
taxpayer. The taxpayer always pays. That is the responsibility, for 
some reason, for American taxpayers to pay for those people who are 
from foreign countries illegally in the United States.
  And it is also likely the United States will lose even more money 
because the remittances that these guest workers send home to their 
families and their home country is growing every day. According to a 
survey by the InterAmerican Development Bank, Mexican and Latin 
American immigrants living in the United States already send $30 
billion a year in remittances back to their native country.
  It is also estimated that 20 percent of the cost of health care and 
20 percent of the cost of education comes from those who are illegally 
in the United States and not contributing to pay for the cost.
  Making these so-called workers legal will not change the cost to the 
American taxpayer.
  And after 6 years, what plans do we have to make sure that these 
individuals will leave? We are taking their word for the fact that when 
their time is up they will quietly pack up and go back home. This 
defies common sense.
  This same sort of situation occurred back in 1986 when 3 million 
illegals were given blanket amnesty on the condition there would be a 
ban on hiring other illegal immigrants. This so-called ban was 
essentially ignored by employers, and we have no reason to expect a 
different result this time.
  Furthermore, the amnesty work program would be managed by the United 
States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the CIS. Well, the United 
States Government Accounting Office released a report this week 
charging these bureaucrats with a failed organizational infrastructure 
and massive mismanagement and corruption.
  The report shows that the CIS doesn't have a handle on fraud, doesn't 
do enough to deter it and won't have a fraud management system in place 
until 2011. The GAO report also found that most of the fraud is a 
result of a backlog of applications which placed additional pressure on 
the CIS to produce or process applications faster, making an increased 
risk of incorrect decisions, including approval of potentially 
fraudulent applications.
  Because of this pressure, multiple offenders are able to game the 
system, because neither the CIS nor the Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement regularly penalize those illegals caught committing fraud.
  The GAO also found that, of the 94 terrorists known to operate in the 
United States between the 1990s and 2004, including the September 11 
hijackers, two-thirds committed immigration fraud. And now we want 
bureaucrats to run an amnesty worker program when they are already not 
capable of the running the programs that they have.
  We must remember that an amnesty worker program will not stop illegal 
immigration. We already have three guest worker programs in place, and 
we are still dealing with illegal immigration on a daily basis. In 
1986, the Immigration Reform and Control Act legalized 3 million aliens 
in an attempt to control and reform immigration woes. A lot of good 
that did. Now, 20 years later, those 3 million have grown to almost 12 
million.
  The consequences of an amnesty worker program could be chaotic, and 
there is clear risk to our homeland security. The GAO report is yet 
another reason added to the long list of why amnesty worker program 
would be a disaster for the United States. So, Madam Speaker, we cannot 
outsource American jobs by bringing more illegals into the United 
States under the banner of amnesty. That's just the way it is.

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