[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 4389-4390]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           AMERICA NEEDS TO GET TOUGH ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to address the 
House at this time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to alert my colleagues to 
a tremendously destructive attack being carried out upon our country. 
This attack is gravely damaging working Americans, especially those in 
the middle and lower incomes; perhaps as many as 50 percent of 
America's population has suffered or is being injured by this attack.
  My colleagues need to be alerted to the horrendous situation that 
many Americans are finding themselves in as their standard of living 
begins to decline and our way of life and the prosperity we all enjoyed 
as young people seems now a distant goal. They need to be alerted, my 
colleagues need to be alerted because the suffering that is affecting 
many Americans is disproportionate. Yes, those in the lower incomes are 
suffering, but in fact many upper-income Americans have actually 
benefited from the malady that now has been damaging so many of the 
less affluent Americans.
  Of course, what I am referring to is the mind-boggling, out-of-
control flow of illegal immigrants into our country in these last two 
decades. Throughout our country, but especially in the Southwest, 
America's education, health care, housing, and criminal justice 
infrastructure is breaking down. It is breaking down under the weight 
of 11 to 20 million illegal immigrants who have flooded into our 
country in these past two decades.
  These 11 to 20 million illegals are by and large good and decent 
people, people who have come here to better their lives. But our job is 
not to watch out for all of the good and decent people who can come 
here from throughout the world in violation of our laws. Our job is 
supposed to be watching out for the interest of the American people.
  These 11 to 20 million illegals are good people, but they have been 
bidding down the wages of lower-income Americans, thus hurting these 
Americans and their potential for having a decent living. They are 
destroying the social infrastructure that our fellow Americans of lower 
income depend upon. Whether it is health or education, their children 
are losing out because the limited money we have for education is being 
spent on people who are not here legally and their children that they 
bring with them in order to enjoy this benefit. And we would bring our 
children if we were foreigners as well because we care about our 
families.
  It is not their fault; it is the fault of the policymakers in 
Washington that permit people to come here and consume the limited 
resources that should be going to our own people.
  It is time for a tough, anti-illegal immigration bill that would deny 
all benefits to those who are in this country illegally. Just beefing 
up the borders is not enough. No, border security is not the goal. What 
we are talking about is dealing with a real issue, and it is called 
illegal immigration as well as the 11 to 20 million illegals that are 
already here.
  It is a bit disturbing to hear the ongoing debate in Washington. What 
they must ask themselves is: Who is watching out for the American 
people? Well, they need to watch and listen very closely to their 
Representatives. In the next few weeks, they should be very aware of 
what their Representatives are doing. And if their Representatives are 
not watching out for their interest and the interest of their families, 
the interest of the American people, then the American voters should 
vote in a way to express their anger or how they feel about that.
  Illegal immigrants may be good people. And, in fact, the kids on the 
streets of L.A., I come from southern California; there are tens of 
thousands of them out on the streets. They are basically good kids. 
Yes, they were waving Mexican flags, and I did not like that, but they 
are basically good and decent kids. But I will tell you it is not the 
job of the Government of the United States to spend our limited 
education dollars on people who are here illegally from Mexico or 
anywhere else. Our limited education dollars should be spent on our own 
young people to try to maximize their value so when they get older they 
can earn a decent living, and especially a living where their wages are 
not bid down by tens of millions of illegals who will do the job 
cheaper.
  Our limited resources should go to America's seniors. Yes, there may 
be good and decent people who have come here illegally. I do not care 
if they are good people, we need to spend our limited resources on our 
own seniors and our own young people.
  This is not a hateful or a malicious type of approach to the problem. 
You can have love in your hearts, Christian love for other people, or 
any other kind of love for that matter, and care for other people, but 
know that you are taking care of your family and your neighbors and 
other Americans first.

[[Page 4390]]

  America is a land of every race and religion. In California, we are 
especially proud of our Mexican American heritage. But we are talking 
about Americans, people who are tied together. If we do not consider 
that American citizenship or legal residency in our country means 
anything, we are degrading that very issue of citizenship and legal 
procedures that one goes through with respect to the law by giving 
benefits to millions of people who have come here in total disregard 
for America's law.
  What we need to do is make sure that any law that passes is a strong 
anti-
illegal immigration law and not just a border control law. And do not 
let anyone tell you, oh, we need these people because there is work 
that Americans won't do. Americans will do any job as long as the price 
is high enough, and they have been bidding down the amount paid to 
laborers by having millions of illegals coming into this country 
willing to work for less money. Do not let the agricultural business or 
any other business tell you that they cannot find people to do that 
work.
  Yes, we would have to be creative. For example, there is no reason 
why the millions of young Americans who are in their 20s and early 30s, 
who occupy our prisons throughout the United States, should not earn 
some money, earning their own way, perhaps giving restitution to their 
victims and perhaps having some money when they get out of prison to 
start a new life by picking fruits and vegetables. This can and should 
be done. Everybody is brushing that argument off.
  If we do not have illegals in this country, we might have to accept 
creative approaches. That is why we need strong illegal immigration 
legislation to get down to the business of helping the American people.

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