[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 142 (Wednesday, November 19, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H8128-H8130]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IMMIGRATION
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 3, 2013, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Gohmert) for 30 minutes.
Mr. GOHMERT. Mr. Speaker, we got word earlier this afternoon that
President Obama intends to issue an oral decree followed by a written
decree--as any good monarch would--indicating that he has decided to
change the law regarding immigration.
An article here from The Washington Post has a quote from Secretary
Jeh Johnson, the Secretary of Homeland Security, which he says:
``Legislative action is always preferable,'' Johnson said,
``but we have waited for Congress to act, and the Congress
has not acted. The President has waited.''
That is what leaders in places like Venezuela--many places
historically where that statement has been made, we have waited for
parliament or the legislature or Congress to change the law. They
didn't do as we dictated to Congress they had to do, and therefore, we
have decided to change the law.
This President is creating a constitutional crisis, and it happens
when a President is allowed to continue pushing the envelope and
pushing the envelope and exceeding the envelope, and you have an
incorrigible opinion written--as the majority for the Supreme Court did
on ObamaCare--that is the height of hypocrisy.
How the Supreme Court majority could say, on page 14 and 15, that the
mandated penalty in ObamaCare was not a tax--the Supreme Court said if
it were a tax, of course, under the anti-injunction statute many
decades old, we would not have jurisdiction--plaintiffs wouldn't have
standing.
But since clearly the penalty is just that--it is a penalty--then it
is not a tax because, if it were a tax, we wouldn't have jurisdiction,
plaintiffs wouldn't have standing, and we would all be out of luck, and
we wouldn't be able to issue an opinion, but since it is not a tax, it
is a penalty, then we will go forward and be able to issue an opinion.
Then you get over about 40 pages, and the opinion says, since it is a
tax after all--even though 40 pages or so ago it wasn't--now, we found
that it is, therefore, it is constitutional.
So we have had all three branches help create a constitutional
crisis. The President on one hand, by continuing to overstep the
boundaries of the Constitution as he usurps more and more power; the
Supreme Court by issuing decisions that are nonsensical; and Congress,
if we continue not to use the powers of the purse to stop the
lawlessness by this administration.
The Supreme Court has had opportunities to stop it--they have stopped
it on many occasions--set a record for numbers of Supreme Court
opinions ruling against an administration unanimously, so the President
does have that part of his legacy going, but apparently, the legacy
continues to be stretched to the bounds of absurdity.
The Washington Post said--this was from today:
President Obama will announce Thursday that he will use his
executive authority to expand temporary protections to
millions of undocumented immigrants, according to several
individuals who have been briefed on the decision. Obama will
travel to Las Vegas on the heels of that announcement to
rally support for his initiative on Friday.
It shouldn't be a surprise. While the President slept and four
heros--including one ambassador--in Benghazi were killed, he got up and
headed for Las Vegas.
{time} 1845
Now, he is going to announce this constitutional crisis he is
creating by deciding to legislate and then take off for Las Vegas
again, gambling with the jobs of Americans as he goes.
Getting back to the article again, it says:
Congress will receive official details on the move
Thursday, according to a senior Democratic Party official.
Even before final confirmation of the President's plans,
outside advocates began readying events to promote the
administration's immigration policy.
``We hear there will be a primetime Thursday evening
announcement, to preview, and full unveiling in Vegas on
Friday,'' immigration advocate Dawn Le wrote in an email to
other activists, which was later inadvertently sent to a
group of reporters Wednesday morning. ``Can folks begin to
work and plan watch parties for Thursday and/or Friday?
Unclear whether Thursday night content will be what is
`celebratory,' but Friday will be where we need a lot of
energy guaranteed.''
That is, of course, while the President is in Las Vegas, gambling
away American jobs.
The article goes on:
Obama launched his push for immigration reform in January
2013 in Las Vegas, outlining a plan that would allow many of
the Nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants to earn
citizenship.
Now, it is important to note the article goes on to say:
Johnson said the administration has concluded it has ``wide
latitude'' to take action. ``It can't be that we are not
allowed to lift a finger to fix our broken immigration
system,'' he said. ``And we will.''
That is what creates the constitutional crisis, Mr. Speaker.
Jefferson once recommended that we shouldn't bring up a bill for a vote
until it has had a year on file for people to review. That would
eliminate all these legislating-by-crises situations, but we have seen
crises generated.
We know the former Chief of Staff for the President of the United
States once quipped that you never want to let a good emergency go to
waste; obviously, there is a feeling that this would be the time to
usurp congressional authority.
Now, the sad thing is the crisis is not as bad right now as it has
been in the past. Any time the President talked about amnesty or legal
status, Border Patrolmen--some on the record, some in articles--have
pointed out any time the President--or anybody in Washington, but
especially the President--talks about amnesty or legal status, the
numbers of people coming in illegally, the number of people dying
trying to get in, increases.
The number of people wishing to get lost in the masses from Central
America and Mexico coming in from countries where radical Islamic
activities abound are coming in, in greater numbers.
Interestingly, the White House has shown it has the ability to foment
a crisis unilaterally, and then by fomenting the crisis unilaterally,
justify the crisis they created to usurp congressional authority
granted to Congress and no one else in the Constitution.
There is an article from my dear friend, Senator Ted Cruz. ``The
Constitution designs a system of checks and balances for our Nation,
and executive amnesty for illegal immigrants unilaterally decreed by
the White House would seriously undermine the rule of law.
``Our Founders repeatedly warned about the dangers of unlimited power
within the executive branch. Congress should heed those words as the
President threatens to grant amnesty to millions of people who have
come to our country illegally.
``To be clear, the dispute over executive amnesty is not between
President Obama and Republicans in Congress; it is a dispute between
President Obama and the American people. The Democrats suffered
historic losses in the midterm elections largely over the prospects of
the President's executive amnesty. President Obama was correct: his
policies were on the ballot across the Nation in 2014. The elections
were a referendum on amnesty, and the voters soundly rejected it. There
was no ambiguity.
``Undeterred, President Obama appears to be going forward. It is
lawless. It is unconstitutional. He is defiant and angry at the
American people. If he acts by executive diktat, President Obama will
not be acting as a President, he will be acting as a monarch.
``Thankfully, the Framers of our Constitution, wary of the dangers of
monarchy, gave the Congress tools to rein in abuses of power. They
believed if the President wants to change the law, he cannot act alone;
he must work with Congress.
``He may not get everything he wants, but the Constitution requires
compromise between the branches.
``A monarch, however, does not compromise. As Alexander Hamilton
explains in Federalist 69, a monarch decrees, dictates, and rules
through fiat power, which''--as Ted Cruz points out--``is what
President Obama is attempting. When the President embraces the tactics
of a monarch, it becomes incumbent on Congress to wield the
constitutional power it has to stop it.''
He goes on to make good points.
[[Page H8129]]
It is important that someone speak for the tens of millions of
American citizens who had a dream, who hoped to have work, who hoped to
provide for their families, who hoped to have enough to pay back
student loans, who hoped to buy their children bicycles for Christmas,
but they are out of work. They lost work.
Oh, I know the books have gotten cooked, and we are told that the
unemployment rate is dramatically better, but a big reason that the
American voters did not indicate that at the polls is they don't feel
it, and the reason they don't feel that the employment numbers are
better is because they personally know they are not. They are not
better.
In fact, this article is from September 5 from CNS News:
A record 92,269 million Americans 16 and older did not
participate in the labor force in August, as the labor force
participation rate matched a 36-year low of 62.8 percent,
according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics.
The labor force participation rate has been as low as 62.8 percent in
6 of the last 12 months, but prior to last October had not fallen that
low since 1978, which, hypothetically or parenthetically, was during
the august--I say sarcastically for those on the left that don't know
sarcasm--days of the American economy during President Carter's
glorious years as President.
This article goes on:
BLS employment statistics are based on the civilian
noninstitutional population, which consists of all people 16
or older who are not in the military or an institution such
as a prison, mental hospital, or nursing home.
In August, the civilian noninstitutional population was
248,229 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Of that 248 million, 155,959 million, or 62.8 percent,
participate in the labor force, meaning they either had a job
or had actively sought one in the past 4 weeks.
The 92,269 million who did not participate in the labor
force are those in the civilian noninstitutional population
who did not have a job and did not actively seek one in the
last 4 weeks. Because they did not seek a job, then the
administration did not count them as unemployed.
Mr. Speaker, as the President intends to announce tomorrow--and party
in Las Vegas--going into more detail about how many Americans are going
to be displaced from their jobs by people the President is going to
provide amnesty to, somebody needs to be speaking up for that union
member that would love to pay union dues if he just had a job, or for
the single moms that have approached me in tears, saying they got
forced into part-time work because of ObamaCare and the change in the
law that was entailed in the ObamaCare bill.
There are people hurting across America that are American citizens
that once had a dream. Maybe we should label the President's
unconstitutional actions as the American citizen dream killer, instead
of any type of DREAMer act.
We have seen statistics that indicate that possibly less than 10
percent of people who have come into this country illegally are
actually working, so the President provides amnesty for millions of
people who are illegally here.
I hope that he will also provide an apology to the Hispanics and
people from different places around the world that my office is trying
to help achieve visas, achieve citizenship legally, some taking years.
I am sure the President is not going to feel like apologizing.
Apparently, the indication is he wants to celebrate the
unconstitutional actions he is going to announce in Las Vegas, but
somebody with the government needs to apologize to the American people
that 92 million-plus Americans are not even looking for a job any more
when they are eligible for jobs, they could have jobs, most of them
would like to have jobs, but they have given up. They have lost their
dreams under this administration.
As the President announces making millions of more people who have
come illegally eligible to take American citizens' jobs in the next 2
days, I hope that our Congress on both sides of the aisle will do what
is right and say, ``Wait a minute. Secure the border, Mr. President.
That is what is exclusively within your control.''
The Supreme Court has said States and local authorities can't secure
the border. It is up to the administration, and the mere fact is that
this administration has turned their back on protecting Americans from
the illegal aliens that have come in and killed Americans, raped
Americans. Thank God most of them don't do those things.
{time} 1900
But for the millions of people who have been the victims of crimes by
people who have come in illegally, those crimes would never have
occurred if we had had an administration that secured the border so
people who came across with criminal records in their past in the
countries they came from would not be allowed in here, and those crimes
they committed in America would not have been committed.
Those that have been deported and come back in after they committed
crimes here and commit more crimes, as I personally saw as a judge
happen in Smith County, Texas, those wouldn't be happening if we had an
administration that would properly secure the border.
The Clinton administration didn't do it. The Bush administration
didn't do it. And now, this administration has set records for how
poorly they have prevented people from coming in illegally, the damage
that has been done to American citizens, crushing dreams, taking
dreams.
I hope and pray the President will remember his oath, that this
precursor that was released today about the damage the President wants
to do to American citizens who are trying to find jobs, that he will
have second thoughts and not do it.
Mr. Speaker, I hope the American people who spoke very loudly and
clearly when they came out to vote will let the President know, in
person, through email, through phone calls, that American citizens
still need jobs.
Why don't you help the economy get going stronger so that we need
more people to come in and have those jobs?
Our oath is to the American people, and when you have nearly a third
of the United States, or getting close to half of people eligible to
work that have even completely given up on looking for jobs, the
economy is not good. Americans are suffering.
Now the President wants to bring in, just provide amnesty to people
who will then be able to compete and put American citizens out of work.
It really is heartbreaking.
Now, if you stay aboard, say, an Air Force One and you only go to
rallies or golf courses where everybody is doing great, wealthy, you
only talk to high-tech industry people that are just knocking down
billions of dollars, it is easy to start feeling like things are going
great. But if you go to Sabine County, Texas; San Augustine, Texas;
Shelby County, Texas; Angelina County; Nacogdoches County; Rusk County;
Panola County; Harrison County; Gregg County; Smith County; Wood
County; Upshur County--those are counties all within my district. And
in some of those counties, people are really getting desperate. They
don't need to compete with 5 million more people for jobs. They would
just like a job themselves.
If the Obama administration will take the foot off of the throat of
this economy, will help us roll back and repeal ObamaCare.
I got notice again of another hospital in my district this week,
there in Gilmer where my nephew was born. Gilmer hospital, where my
nephew was born, is now going to be closed. They are not going to be
able to handle the continued cuts that ObamaCare has created. There are
numerous reasons, but that is a death knell.
Hospitals are closing. People are hurting. So for the 92, between 92
and 93 million people that have given up hope, how sad, because the
Obama administration will not secure our borders.
I want immigrants coming in. I love the fact that we allow more legal
immigrants in than anybody. I love that. That is wonderful. But when
you don't have secure borders and millions come in, millions upon
millions, then you are moving toward a day when nobody is going to want
to come in because you didn't have a logical immigration process. They
overwhelmed the system. They broke the system, and now that shining
light on a hill has gone out.
We are moving in that direction: the military becoming too small to
adequately protect us, people around the
[[Page H8130]]
world in hostile environments deciding that America can be pushed
around, radical Islamists deciding this is the time to move, Iran
figuring out that they have an administration that can be duped over
and over again until they have the atomic weapons and the ability to
carry them, which they have already got. They can do it with ships,
enough to take out the Great Satan, which is the United States,
according to them, and the Little Satan, Israel.
And this President is going to have a good time out in Las Vegas. Las
Vegas can be fun, but not when the President says he is going to sign a
law--wouldn't it be ironic if he decided to sign it at Caesars Palace,
because the real Caesar's palace used to see that kind of thing on a
regular basis, you know, a dictator, or Caesar just signing a law as he
saw fit.
But in this case, you would think a Caesar would not sign a law that
would provide the ability to displace millions of Americans who have
jobs and force them into the eventuality where 92 million Americans
are. They have given up hope. They have given up on their dreams.
If you believe the Bible, as I do, it makes clear that the government
is here to protect people, to protect against evil, to encourage good
conduct. That means following the law. You provide a protected
environment in which people can be peacemakers and be meek and loving
and kind and turn the other cheek.
But that is not for the government. The government's role is to
enforce the law as it is. And may God plant the seeds of wisdom in the
right people in this administration so they will quit harming Americans
who just want a job.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________