[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 110 (Wednesday, July 15, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H5179-H5180]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CLEAR LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR CRIMINAL ALIEN REMOVAL ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, sitting here listening to my colleagues, 
I find it just so incredibly interesting that nearly everyone that is 
coming to the floor today is talking about an issue that centers on our 
Nation's security, whether it is our national security writ large in 
the world, what is happening in the Middle East, or what is happening 
here at home.

[[Page H5180]]

  And, as I talk to female constituents, it is amazing to me what comes 
up over and over: How are we going to be certain that we are safe in 
our homes, in our communities? How do I know that my children are going 
to be safe at school? How do I know that we are going to be safe when 
we are out at events in the community or driving in the car or going to 
church?
  These are questions of concern to so many moms who, like me, worry 
about their children and their grandchildren.

                              {time}  1045

  Mr. Speaker, this is one of the issues that brings me to the floor 
today. I have legislation that I first filed in 2007. It is called the 
CLEAR Act. It is H.R. 2964.
  The CLEAR Act addresses the issues with the criminal illegal aliens 
that are in our country and the policies that have arisen around 
sanctuary cities. These sanctuary city policies and the executive 
amnesty really have turned every State into a border State and every 
town into a border town in this country.
  Here is why: There are lax, permissive, and liberal policies that 
have really created an open border society here in our country--and do 
you know what, it makes Americans less safe every single day.
  Now, the CLEAR Act isn't a big bill; it is 20 pages, but let me tell 
you what it does specifically. It withholds funding from section 241(i) 
of the Immigration and Nationality Act to sanctuary States and cities.
  That is important to do because, as I said, those lax, liberal, and 
permissive policies have now allowed over the last 7 or 8 years to 
create a total of nearly 300 sanctuary cities in this country. This 
should disturb us because we are becoming a sanctuary country.
  I would ask my colleagues: Will you support that provision of the 
CLEAR Act?
  The second thing the CLEAR Act does, Mr. Speaker, is when a State or 
local law enforcement agency arrests an alien and requests that DHS, 
Homeland Security, take custody of that alien, the CLEAR Act requires 
DHS to do two things: take the alien into Federal custody and 
incarcerate him or her within 48 hours or request that the State or 
municipality temporarily incarcerate the alien or transport them to 
Federal custody.
  The CLEAR Act requires the DHS to train State and local police in 
enforcing immigration laws and to repay them for the money that they 
have spent.
  Now, sanctuary cities first started to happen in the United States in 
1979. Los Angeles was the first sanctuary city. That means these cities 
choose--choose--to stand in violation of Federal law and to not comply 
with Federal immigration law.
  Mr. Speaker, I think it is so instructive that the Department of 
Justice has never taken one of these cities to court, but if you let a 
State like Arizona try to strengthen their immigration laws, then the 
Department of Justice takes them to court. There is something wrong 
with that.
  Another thing that has happened is the illegal alien crime rate which 
has continued to grow. Do you know what the illegal alien crime rate 
should be? It is zero--zero.
  There should not be tolerance for this. We see it all across our 
country. Certainly, we saw it on a San Francisco pier. In Tennessee, a 
Tennessee Highway Patrol officer made a traffic stop on I-40 that led 
to the arrest of a man with an order of deportation and the recovery of 
a 19-year-old who may have been a victim of human sex trafficking.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time to address this issue, and I encourage 
support for the CLEAR Act.

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