[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 23656]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         THE CLEAR ACT OF 2003

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. NORWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I rise on the floor of the House today to 
share, sadly, yet another tragic story of another instance where 
senseless criminal acts, acts that could have been prevented and should 
have never happened, were allowed to take place because of our badly 
broken immigration system.
  Mr. Speaker, for the last year, South Florida has been terrorized by 
a serial rapist. Beginning in September of last year, seven females in 
the Miami area, ranging between the ages of 11 and 79, have been 
victimized by a vicious, brutal criminal. Needless to say, the year-
long attacks have left most women who live in the Miami area fearing 
for their safety and on guard for these past 12 months.
  Thankfully, the local law enforcement authorities in the area believe 
they now have their man. Earlier this month, Miami police arrested 
Reynaldo Rapalo. A citizen of Honduras, he is accused of raping the 
seven women I mentioned earlier, and trying to attack and rape four 
others during that same time.
  The Miami police indicate that they have Mr. Rapalo's fingerprints, 
his DNA that links him to these dastardly crimes, and finally his 
confession. Tragically, Mr. Speaker, they also had Mr. Rapalo himself 
back in October of last year, before six of the rapes had been allowed 
to occur. He was arrested on molestation charges, and at the time Mr. 
Rapalo's C-1 visa had expired. He was living here then illegally.
  Mr. Speaker, had the CLEAR Act been on the books last October, 
Reynaldo Rapalo would have been detained and deportation proceedings 
would have begun and, more importantly, the women who were subsequently 
brutally attacked would have never fallen victim.

                              {time}  1930

  The sad fact is cases like this one are far too common, and our 
government has turned a blind eye to the criminal alien crisis in 
America for far too long.
  Today within our borders, there are 400,000 illegal aliens with 
standing deportation orders that we cannot find. Among these are 80,000 
criminal aliens like Mr. Rapalo, murderers, rapists, pedophiles and the 
like. These individuals were in the hands of law enforcement at one 
time but turned loose because of an immigration system that is 
unresponsive, unaccountable, and just plain broken.
  Mr. Speaker, while our men and women wearing the badge continue to 
arrest and rearrest the same criminal aliens that our failed 
immigration system continues to put back on the streets, our Federal 
Government sends just 2,000 Bureau of Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement agents, BICE, in the field to enforce these immigration 
laws, telling those officers, the victims of crimes like those 
witnessed in south Florida over the last year, and the 80,000 criminal 
aliens this government cannot find, one simple thing: we are simply not 
serious about this crisis. This Congress is not serious about this 
crisis.
  Earlier this summer, along with the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Boyd) 
and the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Hart) and the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Deal), I introduced a bipartisan bill that would get 
serious about our Nation's growing criminal alien crisis. The bill, 
entitled the CLEAR Act, is a measure that would make clear that our 
Nation's 600,000 local and State law enforcement officers have the 
authority to enforce our Nation's immigration laws, and we would give 
them the training, access to data, and the resources that they need to 
get the job done. Finally, it would give some much-needed help to the 
2,000 out-manned Federal agents we have enforcing immigration law 
today.
  Mr. Speaker, today's broken and failed immigration system is simply 
unworkable and for this government and this Congress to stay on the 
sidelines and let 80,000 criminal aliens create more horror stories 
like those perpetuated by Mr. Rapalo is simply unacceptable behavior. I 
urge my colleague to get off the sidelines and support the CLEAR Act, 
get involved in this game, and let us get serious about America's 
criminal alien crisis.

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