[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 129 (Thursday, July 31, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H7635]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM

  (Mr. BACA asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. BACA. Mr. Speaker, we are a Nation with a Constitution and a Bill 
of Rights, with human rights; and that's what makes our country so 
great.
  These rights were violated for hundreds of families in immigration 
raids throughout the country, including Postville, Iowa. What we fail 
to see at times are the long-lasting and devastating impact raids leave 
behind.
  In Postville, hundreds of children have been ripped from their 
families, elderly left to fend for themselves, single parents forced to 
wear ankle bracelets are prohibited from working to feed their 
children. And the schools now resemble ghost towns with the absence of 
so many children.
  We cannot continue to look the other way and ignore what is happening 
in this country.
  The human dignity of these families have been stepped on. We are a 
country with moral principles and core family values. There is no 
blanket solution for the immigration crisis. We need to look beyond 
this ugly anti-immigrant rhetoric that is dividing our Nation and work 
towards comprehensive immigration reform.

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