[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 32 (Tuesday, February 24, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H2611-H2612]
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. I rise today to urge my colleagues, our leadership, Speaker 
Pelosi, President Obama, to work with CHC on comprehensive immigration 
reform.
  Two weeks ago this legislative body passed a significant bill that 
will help our devastated economy. We cannot forget the other gaping 
wound here, our broken immigration system. We are making a big mistake 
if we continue to ignore the 12 to 14 million undocumented immigrants 
who are part of this economy. This is not something that we should 
sweep under the rug with more unrealistic enforcement-only fixes to the 
immigration system. Enforcement-only approaches makes the situation 
worse by generating an underground economy and encouraging

[[Page H2612]]

a demand for vulnerable, undocumented workers.
  I urge my colleagues not to let politics cloud a real solution. The 
only answer is comprehensive immigration reform.

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