[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 18454-18455]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    AGAINST MATRICULA CONSULAR CARDS

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, last night the House voted to strip 
language in the Treasury bill that would have made a small step towards 
restoring some sense of sanity to our national immigration policy. Even 
though we are supposed to be reforming our immigration system in the 
aftermath of 9/11, Time Magazine has just reported that 3 million 
illegal aliens will enter this country, adding to the 10 million who 
are already here. This is the largest number since 2001,

[[Page 18455]]

the year we were attacked. Is this progress? No.
  And now we are allowing these matricula consular cards which are 
issued as a form of identification in Mexico. We are allowing this form 
of ID even though the FBI reports that there is no centralized database 
for issuing these cards, there are no uniform standards for its 
issuance, and in some cases all an applicant has to do is simply say, I 
am who I am. The FBI determined that these are not adequate standards 
and that they are fraught with fraud. I wholeheartedly agree.
  Mr. Speaker, I am disappointed that we are allowing these ID cards to 
be used. I am deeply concerned that their use places our national 
security at risk.

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