[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 98 (Wednesday, July 10, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H4315]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN DEFENSE OF LEGAL IMMIGRATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. McClintock) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, America is a Nation of immigrants. We're 
all either immigrants ourselves or were the sons and daughters of 
immigrants. America's motto is ``E pluribus unum''--``From many, one.'' 
From many nations we've created one great Nation, the American Nation.
  There's only one way to accomplish this remarkable feat, and that's 
through the process of assimilation. Unlike other nations, our 
immigration laws were not written to keep people out. They were written 
to assure that those who come here demonstrate a sincere desire to 
become Americans, to acquire a common language, a common culture, and a 
common appreciation of American constitutional principles and American 
legal traditions.
  Illegal immigration undermines that process of legal immigration that 
makes our Nation of immigrants possible. If we allow illegal 
immigration, then legal immigration becomes pointless, the process of 
assimilation that our immigration laws assure breaks down, and the 
bonds of allegiance that hold a country like ours together begin to 
dissolve.
  As a recent article by John Fonte of the National Review points out, 
earlier immigration bills included a provision calling for ``patriotic 
integration of prospective citizens into the American way of life by 
providing civics, history, and English . . . with a special emphasis on 
attachment to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, 
the heroes of American history, and the meaning of the Oath of 
Allegiance.''
  But the director of immigration policy for La Raza objected to this 
language, writing that ``while it doesn't overtly mention assimilation, 
it's very strong on the patriotism and traditional American values 
language in a way which is potentially dangerous to our communities.''
  Well, that language is pointedly missing from the Senate measure, 
suggesting a purpose fundamentally different from past immigration 
laws. It raises the question of why groups supporting this bill find 
the mention of assimilation objectionable and consider patriotism and 
traditional American values not only disagreeable but, in their word, 
``dangerous.''
  Now, to those who say that we need a path to citizenship, I must 
point out we already have such a path that is followed by millions of 
legal immigrants who have obeyed all of our laws, who have respected 
our Nation's sovereignty, who've done everything our country's asked of 
them to do, including waiting patiently in line, and are now watching 
millions of illegal immigrants try and cut in line in front of them.
  The 1986 Immigration Reform Act promised a balanced approach that 
combined legalization of the 3 million illegal immigrants then in the 
country with promises of employer sanctions and tougher border 
security. As we all know, legalization occurred instantly, but the 
promises of enforcement were first ignored and, later, actively 
resisted by the Presidents who followed.
  The current administration, for all its rhetoric, has unlawfully 
suspended enforcement of our existing immigration laws and actively 
obstructed States from assisting in their enforcement. If this 
administration will not enforce our existing law, why should anyone 
believe its promises to enforce even stricter laws in the future?
  Now, a common tactic of those on the left is to blur the distinction 
between legal and illegal immigration and to paint those in opposition 
to amnesty as ``anti-immigrant.'' This is simply dishonest.
  Legal immigration is the very essence of our country. It sets us 
apart from every other nation in the world, the fact that citizenship 
is open to all who evince a sincere desire to understand, adopt, and 
revere those uniquely American principles enshrined in our Declaration 
of Independence and animated by our American Constitution.
  They do so by the thousands, every day, by obeying our immigration 
laws, renouncing foreign loyalties, and embracing American principles. 
By doing so, as Lincoln said, they become the ``blood of the blood and 
the flesh of the flesh of the men who wrote that Declaration.''
  Illegal immigration destroys all of that, and any measure that 
encourages more of it, by granting special privileges to those who defy 
our immigration laws, is a direct affront to every legal immigrant who 
has become an American, and it is a direct challenge to the process of 
immigration that built our Nation.
  To those illegal immigrants who seek citizenship out of a sincere 
desire to become Americans, I ask only that they respect our laws, and 
I invite them to begin the process of legal immigration that's already 
available to them and that's been followed by the millions who've come 
before them.

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