[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 112 (Thursday, June 29, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H5304]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            SANCTUARY CITIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. LaMalfa) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, finally, this week, we are taking up two 
pieces of legislation that will address a huge problem in my home State 
of California for a long time.
  As California moves more and more towards becoming a sanctuary State, 
already having several sanctuary cities, H.R. 3003 and H.R. 3004 move 
in the right direction toward law and order and what people expect from 
their government in providing for the public safety.
  We go back to the story of two Californians I can think of off the 
top of my head immediately, Kate Steinle and Jamiel Shaw, Jr., taken 
needlessly by people who shouldn't have even been in the country. They 
were illegal immigrants who were allowed to slip through the system and 
cause the death of both of those fine young people in California.
  Juan Sanchez was an illegal immigrant with a record of seven 
felonies. He had been caught and deported not once, not twice, by five 
times. He should not have been on the streets of California. But on 
July 1, he was roaming around free in San Francisco. He stole a gun out 
of a Federal officer's car, fired shots in public, and shot Kate 
Steinle in the back. San Francisco is a so-called sanctuary city, but 
it was not a sanctuary city for Kate Steinle.
  By shielding illegal immigrants from Federal authorities, sanctuary 
cities are disobeying the law. These actions have fatal consequences, 
as Kate Steinle and her family found out.
  Action we take this week on H.R. 3004, Kate's Law, will toughen the 
punishment for illegal immigrants who reenter the country. The second 
bill, H.R. 3003, No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, cracks down on 
sanctuary cities, protects the public from dangerous criminals, and 
sends a message that if you are not with us in enforcing the law, then 
you are not going to receive funding or other help from the Federal 
Government.
  I think that is finally the right message coming out of Washington, 
D.C., for those who don't uphold the laws and see to the first duty of 
government, which is to protect and stand up for the safety of its 
citizens.

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