[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6411-6415]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 18, 2007, the gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray) is 
recognized for 60 minutes.
  Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to present our report to the 
American people on the status of the immigration issue tonight, and it 
is an honor to be able to welcome you to the Speaker's chair.
  As a new freshman, or as one of your first times up there, I want to 
congratulate you on your advent to service of the people of America as 
the acting Speaker tonight.
  Mr. Speaker, actually tonight we are talking about an issue that a 
lot of Americans have asked for a long time to be addressed, and that 
is the many different ways that we are encouraging illegal immigration. 
But actually tonight, we are to be talking about one of the items that 
originally was not intended to be one of immigration, it was one to be 
basically addressing national security and neighborhood security.
  For good reasons, Congress in the past, both Democrats and 
Republicans, have said that the movement of capital funds, of bank 
accounts, was a major issue in fighting things like drug trafficking, 
of terrorist activities and of other illegal activities to where the 
United States' Congress, with this support and the consent of the 
people of the United States, said that before somebody opens a bank 
account, before they start getting involved in business transactions 
with a lending institution, they need to show and prove who they are so 
we know who is moving this cash back and forth. The identification 
issue became critical to make sure that drug cartels and criminal 
elements and terrorist elements were not able to use our institutions 
of lending, of finance, as part of their terrorist and illegal 
activity.
  Sadly what has happened, though, is we passed a law that said 
everyone must be identified. There are lending institutions that have 
found ways to get around the law and say that if somebody is able to 
get a phony ID from a phony government document, we will look the other 
way and use that to be able to open bank accounts.
  A lot of this discussion is specifically about illegal immigrants 
being able to get these documents, because you have countries such as 
Mexico that are willing to give documents, ID documents to individuals 
without any proof of who they are. Thus, the document such as the 
consulate card from the Republic of Mexico isn't worth the paper it is 
written on.
  What has happened is these institutions, these American institutions, 
are actually participating in business transactions that they know 
violates the spirit of the law and accepts phony identification as a 
way to be able to engage in business that otherwise would be illegal 
for legal resident aliens and U.S. citizens to engage in, because the 
rest of us are required to show viable identification.
  At this time I have the privilege to recognize the gentlelady from 
Tennessee. At this time I would like to yield whatever time she may 
consume to Mrs. Blackburn.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. I thank the gentleman from California, and I thank 
him for his insightfulness on the immigration issue.
  He has done so much work in his service in this Congress addressing 
this issue and encouraging people to look at the issue, to learn about 
the issue and to realize it is more than just a surface issue.
  I also have appreciated the fact that the gentleman has encouraged 
people to realize the compassionate thing to do in this is to make 
certain that we keep immigration legal and that we honor the men and 
women who have gone through the process legally.
  That is important to do, and it is the right step It is the 
compassionate step to make.

[[Page 6412]]

  H.R. 1314 addresses the issue that Mr. Bilbray mentioned and 
referenced as he opened his remarks about those that have entered the 
country illegally, getting access to our financial markets. Now, H.R. 
1314 is the Photo Identification Security Act. This is a great piece of 
legislation. It is not a lengthy bill, it is one that I think everybody 
here in the House can pick up and read in 1 or 2 minutes. As you see, 
it is only about three pages.
  What it does is something very big and very important, though, it 
closes a loophole that exists in the PATRIOT Act and the IRS 
regulations, and it is through that loophole that you could literally 
drive a truck. That is the loophole that we know that not only illegal 
immigrants use, but sexual predators and identity thieves, those people 
that want to be anonymous, that need to be anonymous, that have to be 
anonymous to the legal system. This is what they are choosing to use to 
gain access to banking institutions, to wire transfer services from the 
Federal Reserve, the U.S. Treasury, the IRS. It is giving them the 
ability to sign up for credit cards, to get home mortgages, to obtain 
taxpayer identification numbers, which employers call ITEN numbers, and 
to transfer money from this country back to Mexico.
  This is a difficult situation for our country, because we have spent 
a lot of time, effort and energy trying to seek out terrorist groups 
and those that would do us harm. We are spending a lot of time, effort 
and energy talking about protecting intellectual property and looking 
at money laundering and how those pirates are laundering money and 
sending it back out of the country, taking money out of our 
communities.
  We are spending a lot of time routing out identity thieves. Certainly 
in my community I hear from so many people who have had their identity 
lifted. They have had it stolen. They have had somebody take that from 
them, and then these individuals want to go open checking accounts, 
they want to go open credit cards and run up the number, just swipe 
those numbers off that credit card, run it ragged.
  Somebody pays the bill, and it always comes back to being the 
American taxpayer that is going to pay the bill for fraud and for 
misuse. Happens every single time, every single time. This is a very 
serious problem to the faith that people have in our governing 
institutions. It is a serious problem to the stability of our financial 
markets. But there is a solution to this problem, and it is H.R. 1314, 
the Photo Identification Security Act.
  As I said, it is a very simple bill, and I will do three things. It 
says in order to access our nation's financial services, in order to do 
business with the Federal Government, you have to present one of the 
three secure forms of ID as recognized in this country.
  Number one would be a Social Security card with a government-issued 
State or Federal government issued photo ID. This could be a driver's 
license, if you are from a State that complies with the REAL ID Act.
  Then you have got number two, a U.S. passport or a foreign nation 
passport. That would be a passport that we recognize, that we have a 
reciprocity agreement with.
  The third form of ID would be a US citizenship and immigration 
service photo ID card. Now, that would be your USCIS permanent resident 
card, permanent alien card, work card, green card. Simply put, you have 
to have a visa before you can apply for a visa if this legislation 
passes, and we are encouraging everyone to join us in this. We are 
encouraging everyone, both parties, both Houses, to sign on, let's 
close this loophole and close it quickly.
  I was talking to one of my constituents about this problem after it 
had arisen, it was a banker, in rural west Tennessee in my district. He 
was excited that we were working on this bill and thrilled that we were 
going to be closing this loophole. He looked at it like this, he told 
me a story of a couple of his customers, they had worked at a local 
plant, both had retired.
  Then they decided they wanted to buy a motor home, which they did, 
good customers at the bank, so they get the motor home. They decide to 
start travelling.
  Well, they needed a credit card to make reservations at those 
campgrounds. This banker could not get them a credit card because they 
had never had a credit card. They had a checking account. They had 
pretty much operated on cash, they had retired, they were now 
unemployed. They could not qualify for a credit card.
  So, when the scandal began that we had major iconic banks in this 
country issuing credit cards to those that had illegally entered this 
country, as long as they were willing to put $100 in a checking account 
and leave it there for a month, then they could get a $500 credit card, 
that gentleman, that good, solid, patriotic American man that has 
worked for a company, retired from a company and wanted to enjoy his 
retirement years, walked into that bank, and he asked that banker, do I 
need to be an illegal immigrant just to get a credit card in this 
country?
  That is the right question for him to ask. That is how ludicrous the 
practice is and how horrific it is that we would have these big banks, 
big banks, big iconic companies that have benefitted from the 
prosperity of this great Nation to play favorites and to say, all 
right, if you are an illegal immigrant, if you want to put $100 in over 
here, I am going to give you a $500 credit card.
  Basically, I will tell you, that is predatory lending. Basically, 
that is a pretty high interest rate to go get a credit card, but that 
is the way we are doing it, and their response is we are exploiting a 
loophole. So the loophole needs to be closed because it just isn't 
right. It isn't a practice that should continue.
  Another thing I have heard from some of my constituents is this, all 
of our local communities depend on keeping money in that community and 
having it turn over in the community several times before it leaves. 
You know, once somebody earns a dollar, they like to have that dollar 
turn over three and a half, four, four and a half, five times, in order 
to keep that economy humming along.
  You earn the dollar, you go by the grocery store and make the 
purchase, and by the dry cleaners and by the shoe shop. You go over and 
you take the kids out for ice cream after you have gone to the ball 
game. You go buy new sporting goods for them to play in that ball game. 
Then you go buy new clothes for Easter as you are getting ready for 
Easter, and a swim suit for summer, maybe even a little swimming school 
for the backyard. The point is, the money has to turn over in that 
community in order for the community to be available.
  Guess what, our friendly Federal Reserve system has done? The Federal 
Reserve system of the U.S. government has set up a system that allows 
illegal immigrants to transfer money back to the Bank of Mexico, direct 
to Mexico is the program.
  The funny thing about this is, there are 27,000 transaction a month 
to the tune of $23 billion a year.

                              {time}  2145

  Mr. Speaker, guess what? Friendly Federal Reserve is bragging about 
keeping the fees low, $0.67 a 100. Well, I have not found a one of my 
constituents who has said their ATM fees are going down. I have not had 
a one of them say their checking account fees are going down. I haven't 
had a one of them say they have had any transaction fee go down. My 
merchants complain about the fees that they get charged. And we even 
have a hearing reported in one of our Hill newspapers today about 
retailers and banks duking it out over transaction fees.
  But then we have another article that came out of the L.A. Times that 
is talking about the Federal Reserve bragging about being able to keep 
these fees low.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, it is a little bit of a head scratcher, I will have 
to admit it, my goodness gracious, you know, when they can go in here 
and they can wire this money out of the country, 27,000 transactions a 
month, $23 billion a year, the money is not turning over in the local 
communities.
  Some of our friends across the aisle are saying, well, you know, we 
are not seeing what we want in jobs growth

[[Page 6413]]

and income growth, even though it has been pretty healthy. Maybe they 
need to look at some of this. Maybe they need to join us in stopping 
illegal immigration. Maybe they need to join us in standing against 
amnesty. Maybe they need to make sure that we are a sovereign and free 
Nation, and that we remain so.
  The Photo Identification Security Act, closing the loophole that 
allows those that have illegally entered this country, that allows 
those who are predators and identity thieves to remain anonymous to the 
system; closing that loophole, so that they do not have access to 
credit, so that they do not have access to our financial markets, so 
that they cannot have the ability to remain anonymous to the system.
  I encourage everyone to join me in supporting H.R. 1314, the Photo 
Identification Security Act. I encourage everyone in this body, Mr. 
Speaker, to join us in closing this loophole that exists in the PATRIOT 
Act and the IRS regulations. And I encourage them to join us in 
encouraging the Federal Reserve to end the program that allows $23 
billion to be transferred out of this Nation every year without turning 
over in the community. Every single year.
  Let's be certain that we keep our economy secure and safer. Let's be 
sure that we keep our communities secure and safe, and let's be certain 
that we are fair to the families and the working men and women in this 
great Nation.
  And I yield back to the gentleman from California.
  Mr. BILBRAY. Thank you. I appreciate the gentlelady. Let me say at 
this time, it is my privilege to introduce the gentleman from Texas, 
who actually is a, in his previous life, was a judge who saw over 
25,000 cases. So this is a man who knows a crime when he sees it. And 
at this time I would yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe).
  Mr. POE. I thank the gentleman from California, and also your 
leadership on the Immigration Caucus. This important issue, border 
security, immigration is a national security issue, Mr. Speaker. And 
the people from Southeast Texas who I represent have long been 
concerned about the open borders that we have in the United States and 
the continuing problems that arise from that.
  It is said, Mr. Speaker, that money is the root of all evil. And 
companies like Bank of America think making a buck is more important 
than knowing who their customers really are. By issuing credit cards 
and bank accounts to people who show little, if any legitimate 
documentation, banks are leaving the door wide open for money 
laundering, fraud, and identity theft. They contribute to the magnet 
that drives people to the United States to come and stay here 
illegally. And they are blatantly sending a message to drug cartels and 
terrorists around the world that they are open to business for anybody 
that has got a little money.
  Bank of America's slogan is ``Higher Standards.'' Higher standards, 
Mr. Speaker. It seems they have no standards. Whatever happened to good 
corporate citizenship, where integrity takes a back seat to banking 
greed? Since when does greed override their responsibility?
  Let me read to you what the Bank's Director of Latin American Card 
Operation, a Mr. Brian Tuite, I think that is his last name, T-U-I-T-E, 
said about this recent bank program of giving credit to illegals in the 
United States. He said, ``These people are coming here for quality of 
life, and they deserve somebody to give them a chance to achieve that 
quality of life.''
  Mr. Speaker, since when did Mr. Tuite write Federal immigration laws? 
And what part of illegal immigrant does he not understand? You know, 
with that attitude, I suggest he and Bank of America change their name 
to Bank of Mexico.
  While on the subject of Federal immigration laws, let me read Title 8 
of the U.S. Code, section 1324(a) which defines several distinct 
offenses related to illegals. The law prohibits, among other things, 
encouraging or inducing unauthorized aliens, that is Federal language 
for illegals, to enter the United States, and engaging in a conspiracy 
or aiding and abetting any of the preceding acts.
  So what is the Department of Homeland Security doing about all this? 
Are they working to strengthen document standards for banks like my 
colleague from Tennessee is attempting to do, Ms. Blackburn? No. They 
are using Bank of America's position to argue for more guest workers 
and for amnesty that would reward illegals en masse. They seem not to 
get it.
  The Department of Homeland Security spokesman, Russ Knocke said 
banking products aimed at illegal immigrants reinforce the need for a 
temporary worker program. This is nonsense. His idea rewards the 
unlawful activity of being in the country illegally by now saying it is 
permissible activity to be here illegally.
  Banking products aimed at illegal immigrants do not reinforce the 
need for a temporary worker program. They reinforce the need to enforce 
the border rules, strengthen interior enforcement of immigration laws 
and punish companies who openly flout the rule of law.
  How do we expect to hold employers who knowingly hire illegals 
accountable when American banks are rolling out the welcome mat to 
illegals and giving them credit?
  Issuing credit cards to people without valid and legitimate 
documentation makes no sense. The banking industry would have you 
believe it has to do with helping these poor individuals with bad 
credit history. This is nonsense, again. It is all about banks cashing 
in on the underground illegal cash economy, pure and simple. It is all 
about money. It always has been, and it always will be.
  I am proud to be a cosponsor of H.R. 1314, the Photo Identification 
Security Act that Mrs. Blackburn has spoken about and offered tonight. 
This legislation will close the Federal loophole created in the PATRIOT 
act that allows for financial institutions to accept these bogus 
alternate forms of identification when opening accounts or obtaining 
credit cards.
  Like Mrs. Blackburn pointed out, many American citizens and lawful 
immigrants have difficulty obtaining credit or credit cards, but banks 
are making it easier for illegals to obtain credit and credit cards.
  This bill will require any official business with the Federal 
Government or financial institutions to accept one of the forms of 
identification that are normal, such as a Social Security card, with a 
government issued identification card, including a state driver's 
license, a U.S. or foreign passport or U.S. citizenship and immigration 
service photo identification card.
  The Mexican government-issued matricula consular card under this new 
legislation will no longer be accepted. Now, Mr. Speaker, the MATRICULA 
CONSULAR CARD, issued by the nation of Mexico, is an identification 
card made by the Mexican government for Mexican nationals that are 
illegally in the United States. Banks and even our Federal Government 
have now begun to accept this as a valid identification form. We need 
to work with the banking industry and convince them to maintain the 
integrity of our laws and provide strict guidelines on acceptable and 
secure identification policies. Banks like Bank of America need to stop 
encouraging illegal entry into the United States and quit pandering to 
the illegals that are here, all in the name of the all mighty peso.
  So I appreciate the time the gentleman from California has given me 
and, hopefully, working together, we can stop this nonsense of allowing 
illegals in this country to obtain special privileges over American 
citizens and lawful immigrants.
  Mr. BILBRAY. Thank you very much.
  Mr. Speaker, I think that the gentleman from Texas pointed out a real 
issue here, and that is the special treatment being given to somebody 
who is being perceived to be legally in the country. If you are a 
resident, legal alien, if you are a U.S. citizen, you are expected by 
these institutions to show up with the proper documentation, viable ID 
to prove you are who you are. But under this misguided concept that

[[Page 6414]]

if you are here illegally, we can't expect you to live up to the 
minimum standard that everyone legally is playing here, that we will 
accept this consular card, which, admittedly, is given without any 
documentation, without any verification, and could be used by drug 
cartels, could be used by terrorists, could be used by anyone as a way 
of hiding their identity. But because we perceive you may be illegally 
in the country, we will abandon all our standards that we apply to 
everyone else and allow you to have a special standard that does not 
hold you to the viable ID requirement.
  I just think that Americans across this country keep saying, how far 
off course can we go in America? And sadly, this is an issue that the 
Federal Government has been allowing to happen, that the administration 
has looked the other way on, and I think it is something that this 
administration has to address, this Congress has to address. And the 
American people need to call their Members of Congress and say, where 
do you stand on this issue of viable identification for the opening of 
financial arrangements?
  At this time, Mr. Speaker, I have the privilege to be able to yield 
whatever time he may consume to the gentleman from Virginia, Virgil 
Goode.
  Mr. GOODE. Thank you, Mr. Bilbray.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to say thanks, first, to you, as the Chair of the 
Immigration Reform Caucus, and to your predecessor, Tom Tancredo of 
Colorado, for your relentless efforts to secure our Nation and make our 
country safer by enhancing border security and by reducing magnets that 
are attractions to illegals. One magnet has been discussed just by the 
previous speakers. Mrs. Blackburn of Tennessee and Mr. Poe of Texas 
have discussed the legislation that will, hopefully, block companies 
like Bank of America from issuing credit cards to illegal aliens. That 
is a magnet for them to come here and get an American credit card.
  There are many other magnets that attract millions to come across our 
borders to avoid the law and to enter this country illegally. Amnesty 
is a huge magnet. Amnesty means that if you get here and stay here a 
little while, we are going to let you stay. We are going to give you a 
blue card, a red card or a green card, and we are going to give you a 
glidepath to citizenship. Amnesty is probably the worst magnet of all. 
It is estimated that between 12 and 20 million persons are here 
illegally already. And they are placing a financial burden on the 
educational and social services of localities and states.

                              {time}  2200

  Also, many illegals are criminals, and they are filling local jails, 
State prisons, and placing a burden on our law enforcement system. Even 
in a State like Virginia, which is not adjacent to our southern border, 
you can talk with local law enforcement officials and they can tell you 
about the number of persons that they believe to be illegal going 
through the criminal justice system is costing the taxpayers of the 
localities of the Fifth District and the citizens of the State of 
Virginia millions of dollars.
  I listened to the President's State of the Union message. I was happy 
when he said that we needed to have our borders more secure, but I was 
not happy, very much so, about his proposal that would grant amnesty to 
illegals. Paying a fine for breaking immigration laws of the United 
States and after a few years being given an opportunity to become a 
citizen is amnesty any way you slice it. And I don't care what others 
say about legalization or regularization, they are euphemisms for 
amnesty.
  Once the illegals become citizens, they have the right to petition to 
bring family members into the United States. And that is not just son, 
daughter, father, mother, it extends beyond that, it is called chain 
migration. If you give amnesty to 12 million illegals, that is going to 
be 60 million in less than half a decade. A huge burden on the United 
States. And it is a reward for those who broke the law.
  Giving a glidepath to citizenship in the mid-1980s was tried. It was 
an amnesty then. It failed. It didn't stop the flow, we had more. It 
served as a lure for more to come across our borders. And there is 
reason to believe that if we do it again, millions upon millions will 
follow suit because they will say in the 1980s, if we worked our way 
across, just walked across one night, maybe with a guide, maybe without 
a guide, and we stayed there a few years, they gave us amnesty. And you 
know what? In the nineties more just came across the border, that 
border that has very little fencing along it. They just came in, and 
they got them amnesty then. And they are counting on another one in 
this decade.
  If we want to stop a big magnet for illegal immigration, we will have 
a firm and signed policy of no amnesty, no matter how euphemistic you 
may make the words ``amnesty'' sound.
  And Mr. Bilbray is from San Diego. The fence between San Diego and 
Mexico is working. It is not a simple barbed-wire fence, it is not a 
simple woven-wire fence, it is a three-layer fence with two rows, and 
it is a stopper. I hear those on the other side and many in this body 
say, you know, we really don't need a fence, we can do some other 
things; a fence won't work. Let me tell you, the opponents of the fence 
don't like it because it will do the job. I don't think anyone yet has 
made it across the fence in San Diego by climbing the first fence, 
going across the road, climbing the huge barrier fence in the middle, 
going across the next road and then crossing the third fence. And very 
few, if any, tunnelists have been able to make it so far.
  So the magnet of amnesty is one that needs to be rejected. And if 
this body and the body on the other side on our executive branch were 
to come out four-square, forthrightly against amnesty in any shape or 
form, many of those illegally in the country now would walk back just 
like they walked in because they would know that there was no hope of 
getting that special colored card or getting citizenship. They would 
know that the only way you get to the United States is to play by the 
rules. You go back to your home country, and you don't jump in front of 
those that are going through the process, that are having background 
checks, that are having their criminal records evaluated so they 
wouldn't have any. Their health records and their health checks would 
be undertaken, interviews would be given, they would be playing by the 
rules.
  Another magnet that we must fix is the anchor baby. The United 
States, unlike most countries of the western world, provides for the 
children born of persons illegally in this country with citizenship. 
The mother and father can come here illegally, can be expecting and 
have a baby across the border in the United States, that baby is an 
automatic citizen. And if they go to one of the hospitals, and most 
likely because they are without assets, will be getting free treatment 
at the expense of the taxpaying citizens of the United States of 
America. Anchor babies are a huge magnet.
  If we want to stop the invasion of illegal aliens into this country, 
we must do away with the magnets. And we have talked about three of the 
magnets here tonight. If we want to make America sound financially, 
reduce the deficit, save money, make our country safer and make our 
borders secure, we need to say no amnesty, no credit card and no anchor 
babies. Let's do the right thing, let's save America.
  Mr. BILBRAY. Thank you very much. I appreciate the gentleman from 
Virginia.
  Just to let you know, a lot of people might say, Mr. Speaker, how 
many illegal alien babies can be born in America, can it be that big a 
deal? Well, let me just say to the gentleman of Virginia, in my State 
of California, the cost of just giving birth to the children of illegal 
aliens every year is $400 million. That is just for the birth. Then the 
parents who are illegally in this country qualify to get welfare 
payments in the name of their children because we give them automatic 
citizenship, even though technically the parents are not totally 
subject to the jurisdiction as required by the 14th

[[Page 6415]]

amendment. You can't draft them, you can't try them for treason. But 
$400 million just for the birth. And in fact, just the cost of the 
welfare, Mr. Speaker, paying for the children of illegals have gotten 
so big that even a great moderate like Arnold Schwarzenegger, our 
terminator, or what we call ``governorator'' has recognized that he 
wants to be able to provide health care to these children, he wants to 
be able to take care of the costs, but even he is proposing that we now 
have to cut off welfare payment to the children of illegal aliens at 5 
years, not because he wants to cut it off, but because even the 
wealthiest State in this Union, California, can no longer afford to pay 
the benefits to illegal aliens that have been going on for so long. It 
has gotten that far.
  And I think anybody would recognize that Arnold Schwarzenegger is not 
exactly anti-immigrant. He is probably the flagship and the banner boy 
for the successful immigrant story. But even he has looked at the 
bottom line and said there is a place where you have got to be able to 
say enough is enough. How much are you going to take from the law-
abiding citizens and the children of law-abiding citizens and shift it 
over and give it to people who have broken our laws?
  I appreciate the gentleman from Virginia for bringing that up. And 
all I have to say is a lot of people may talk about this issue of banks 
looking the other way and accepting these consular cards, even they are 
not viable because their argument is, but we are making money. This is 
America. We are supposed to be making money. This is breaking that fine 
line between legal and illegal. Those who make money legally are 
totally separate from those who are making it illegally. And the banks 
are saying we are getting away with it, so let us keep doing it.
  Mr. Speaker, I think you would admit, this is right where the issue 
of racketeering brought the Federal government in to address people who 
were into bootlegging, though they were making big money, people that 
were into prostitution, people that were in drug dealing, people that 
were involved in the labor market below fair market value. We have laws 
against racketeering, and these major banks are involved in 
racketeering. They are profiteering from illegal activity because they 
are willfully and openly encouraging people that are in violation of 
the law, working and making money in violation of our laws, and then 
taking that money and profiteering by cutting a deal with the illegal 
alien that we will let you be in our institution if we get a wink and a 
nod and we are able to get our pound of flesh out of it. So I think it 
is something we need to address.
  I appreciate the chance to be able to be here tonight with you. And 
Mr. Speaker, let me just say that American people may say they hear a 
lot about the problem of illegal immigration and what do we do about 
it, but not enough people talk about simple answers. And I would ask 
you, Mr. Speaker, and everybody that wants to find a simple answer, it 
is not a Republican or Democrat problem, it is an American problem. And 
there were two great Americans, one was a Democrat, a former Border 
Patrol agent called Sylvester Reyes, another was the former chairman of 
Rules, now ranking member of Rules, a Republican from California named 
David Dreier, who sat down with the Border Patrol agents, the men and 
women that are tasked with taking care of the immigration issue. And 
they were asked, what is the one thing you would do if you had one law 
to take care of illegal immigration? And they didn't say be mean to 
anybody, all they said is give the American employer such a simple way 
as a tamper resistant Social Security card, one document, only one 
document to prove who is legal to work in the United States and who 
isn't. Make it so simple for an employer to know who is legal that 
there is no excuse for somebody to hire an illegal so the Border Patrol 
agents then can go in and really crack down on those who are hiring 
illegals. Because the employers who are knowingly hiring illegals 
cannot hide behind the guise of well, I am like the little guy who 
didn't understand, it will become so clear.
  So I would ask, Mr. Speaker, that you do us the privilege of looking 
at H.R. 98. Sylvester Reyes is a very respected member of the 
Democratic Party, David Dreier is a very respected member of the 
Republican Party. This bill has had the support from members of the 
Hispanic Caucus and members of immigration groups. This is where 
Democrats and Republicans can work together, and I think it is a place 
that America expects us to work together.
  And I would ask anyone that is within the range of my voice, call 
their Member of Congress, call their Senator. Mr. Speaker, all they 
have to do is ask where the Member of Congress stands on H.R. 98, 
because this is where both Americans, Democrat and Republican, should 
be able to come together for the good of our future and for the future 
of our children and our grandchildren.
  At this time, Mr. Speaker, I would yield back my time.

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