[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 121 (Wednesday, July 29, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1155]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                ENFORCE THE LAW FOR SANCTUARY CITIES ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 23, 2015

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 3009, the 
Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act.
   The murder of Kathryn Steinle in San Francisco was a senseless 
tragedy. My heart continues to go out to her family and friends at this 
difficult time.
   As a nation, we cannot base complex policy decisions regarding the 
intersection of our federal immigration system and local law 
enforcement on a single tragic event.
   Sanctuary Cities exist because municipalities across the country 
recognized that they had to act to keep families together as 
Congressional Republican leadership refused to move forward on 
bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform.
   These are some of the most populous cities in the country--New York, 
Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston--and the list goes on.
   Our local law enforcement agencies are not trained immigration 
agents, nor should they be.
   This conversation comes at a time in this country when many local 
law enforcement agencies are facing a crisis of trust with the 
communities they are sworn to protect and serve.
   To threaten their federal funding based on local decisions about how 
best to serve their communities, as H.R. 3009, would do, is not only 
misguided but dangerous.
   Instead, my colleagues should be working to pass bipartisan 
legislation to fix our broken immigration system and address these 
longstanding issues in a comprehensive and thoughtful way.

                          ____________________