[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 97 (Tuesday, July 9, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H4219]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           IMMIGRATION BILLS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Barletta) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BARLETTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in the wake of the passage of 
the Senate amnesty bill to shed light on two important elements of 
illegal immigration that the Senate has grossly overlooked. As we know, 
the Senate bill pairs border security with amnesty. This makes no 
sense. You would never replace your carpet at home if you still had a 
hole in the roof.
  I am hopeful that the House will put border security first, but I 
still have concerns. That's why today I'm introducing two pieces of 
legislation. One will address the problem of visa overstays, and the 
other will ask for a full accounting of what went wrong with the 1986 
amnesty deal that led to our current illegal immigration problem.
  The first bill, the Visa Overstay Enforcement Act of 2013, will, for 
the first time, make staying in the country after your visa has expired 
a felony criminal offense instead of just a civil offense. Upon a first 
offense, the visa overstay would bring a $10,000 fine and 1 year in 
jail. The illegal immigrant may not be legally admitted to the United 
States for 5 years from the date of conviction and may not apply for a 
visa for 10 years after the date of conviction. A second offense would 
be subject to a fine of $15,000 and up to 5 years in jail. The illegal 
immigrant would be banned from entering the United States for life.
  Most of the talk about this issue has been focused on the southern 
border, but that won't solve our illegal immigration problem alone. If 
we fix our broken visa system, we can take care of nearly half of our 
illegal immigration concerns.
  The second part of this bill requires the Secretary of Homeland 
Security to submit a plan to Congress detailing a biometric exit 
program involving the taking of fingerprints of those leaving the 
country at all land, sea, and air ports.
  As I have often said, since 40 percent of illegal immigrants here 
today are here on an expired visa, it is obvious that if your State is 
home to an international airport, then you effectively live in a border 
State.
  And we should learn from history. In 1986, we were told that if we 
just granted amnesty to 1.5 million illegal immigrants, the problem 
would go away. That didn't happen. Instead, 3 million people came here 
to take advantage of amnesty. We need to know what effect the 1986 
amnesty program had on the American worker and whether the effects 
still linger today. Were wages depressed? Were jobs taken away from 
legal workers because so many received amnesty? We should learn our 
lesson.
  My second piece of legislation is the 1986 Amnesty Transparency Act. 
It requires a comprehensive report on the failures of the Immigration 
Reform and Control Act of 1986, which are many.
  Speaking of 1986, let's remember in that year, one of the bombers in 
the 1993 World Trade Center attack was granted amnesty. He had 
originally arrived on an agricultural visa. He was really a taxi 
driver, and all he ever planted was a bomb.
  The real losers in this debate are the legal immigrants who have 
followed the rules. Here is a clear example:
  Under the ObamaCare employer mandate, any company with 50 or more 
employees must provide health insurance to their employees or pay a 
fine of $3,000 per employee, but illegal immigrants granted amnesty 
under the Senate bill are exempt from ObamaCare. So I ask you: What is 
the incentive to hire a legal American worker who would come with a 
health care price tag over an illegal worker who would not? None.
  We have immigration laws for two reasons: to protect our national 
security and to protect American jobs. The Senate bill violates both of 
those principles. So tell me, why would we do this?
  I ask the House to consider my commonsense bills and put border 
security first. Let's put the safety of the American citizens first.

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