[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 22]
[House]
[Page 30684]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, everybody in America, at least 
the vast majority of Americans, are very concerned about illegal 
immigration. And they want it stopped.
  Back in the early 1980s, we passed a bill called the Simpson-Mazzoli 
bill. It was in about 1986, and it was supposed to stop illegal 
immigration. And what it ended up being was a magnet for more illegal 
immigration. It just simply didn't work. So today, instead of 2 or 3 
million illegals in this country, we have got maybe 14, 15, 16 million. 
And we really need to deal with the problem.
  One of the problems we have is that we are not enforcing our laws. 
Here in Washington, DC, the capital of the United States, a person can 
acquire an illegal driver's license, a fake, a fake Social Security 
card, a fake green card, and all they have to do is talk to somebody on 
the street.
  My chief of staff lives over near a place here in Washington, DC 
called Adams Morgan. It's a very popular place, especially for young 
people. And the ABC News affiliate here in Washington, DC, recently 
went down there with a camera and did an interview and watched what was 
going on as far as giving phony IDs to illegal aliens. And I want to 
read to you what happened. Here's what they said:
  ``On any given day, you see them walking up and down Columbia Road in 
Adams Morgan. As soon as you make eye contact with them, they try to 
offer you freedom as best they can.
  ``Seller: `Green card or security card?'
  ``Buyer: `Yes. What will that cost me?'
  ``Seller: `The green card and Social Security card will cost you 
$140. The driver's license alone will cost you $120.'''
  Now, they are selling fake IDs. And the people that attacked us on 9/
11 had phony driver's licenses and had regular driver's licenses and 
they used them as ID to get on planes. And here in Washington, DC, we 
have these people making phony ID cards, driver's licenses, green 
cards, Social Security cards, and they're selling them in broad 
daylight and we are not doing anything about it. And these people may 
very well be terrorists and a threat to the United States of America. 
I'll go on:
  ``After jotting down a fake name, using our subject's photo . . . the 
card sharks put it all together in a private office. Two hundred 
dollars and a couple of hours later, our subject picks up his documents 
. . . documents so real looking it's almost impossible to detect 
anything suspicious . . . identical seals, a new Social Security 
number, and even affirmation that the U.S. Department of Homeland 
Security has given its okay. It's easy to get a good fake ID that can 
legitimately fool employers. And the Federal employment verification 
``Basic Pilot'' cannot detect fraud, which means employers must fend 
for themselves when determining if a prospective employee is authorized 
to work in the U.S. What's the point of a system if it doesn't work?''
  And that's my question tonight. What are we going to do? We have a 
system that invites illegal aliens to come into this country. They get 
education, they get health care, and we have even had legislation 
passed that would give them an apartment or a home to live in. It's 
just amazing.
  And now we are not enforcing the laws that would stop these people 
from selling fake IDs, which could give a terrorist the ability to move 
about in a very easy way here in the United States of America.
  This is tragic. Our FBI, our Homeland Security, the State police and 
the local police in this country need to enforce the laws against 
creating these fake IDs. It is absolutely essential to keep this 
country protected and to stop the flow of illegal aliens coming into 
this country. What's to stop them? Nothing. Right now they get fake ID 
and they can go anywhere they want, and the American people are sick 
and tired of it. You talk to any congressman and go to any 
congressman's district and they will tell you that the American people 
want this illegal immigration stopped. And we are not even enforcing 
the law and stopping the manufacture of fake IDs. We have to do 
something about it.

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