[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12347-12348]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     LEADERSHIP NEEDED IN THE HOUSE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to discuss the topic of 
leadership. The American people are demanding action from this Congress 
and so far they have really seen very little.
  A recent Wall Street Journal-NBC poll shows that more than 60 percent 
of Americans think that this Congress has done little or nothing since 
the leadership change took place in November. And you know what, Mr. 
Speaker, they are right. Not one piece of the liberal agenda has been 
signed into law. Instead of crafting legislation that can be 
implemented, this Congress has wasted the last 4 months and taxpayer 
dollars as a stage for political theater, and they have nothing to show 
for it.
  When I go home to my district, like I did this weekend, and visit 
with my constituents, what I am hearing from them is really a lot of 
frustration. They are getting tired of the political grandstanding. 
What they want to see, Mr. Speaker, is action. They want us to be 
problem solvers on the problems they face every day.
  The people of the Seventh District want us to hold the line and to 
not raise taxes. They want to keep more of their hard-earned money. 
They don't want government to have first right of refusal on that 
money. They want first right of refusal, and they want to keep those 
paychecks in their pocket. I believe that the American taxpayer knows 
how to better spend his own money than the Federal Government.
  In my district, we hear a lot of people talk about keeping that 
money. I have said many times, if 10 percent is good enough for God, 10 
percent ought to be good enough for the government. My constituents 
agree with that.
  The people of Tennessee want to win in the war on terror. They want 
us to support our men and women in uniform by giving them the supplies 
they need to win. Anything less than that is insulting to the men and 
women who stand to protect us every day. The liberal leadership of this 
Congress says the war is lost. It is time to give up. They also claim 
to support the troops. In my district, Mr. Speaker, we believe you 
can't have it both ways. You don't support the troops by threatening to 
withhold critical funding. You don't support the troops by imposing 
artificial deadlines and taking control of battlefield operations out 
of the hands of the men and women and the commanders in the field. And 
you don't support the troops by telling them that you think the war is 
lost.
  The people of Tennessee want our borders secure and they want us to 
enforce the immigration laws on the books. Granting illegal immigrants 
amnesty is insulting and unrealistic. It is insulting to all of our 
constituents who have spent years of time and money entering the 
country the legal and right way. It devalues all of their hard work and 
their efforts, and if anyone thinks that granting amnesty to illegal 
immigrants that are already here will stop more people from crossing 
the border in the middle of the night, well, they are just fooling 
themselves.
  All of this talk of amnesty will only increase illegal immigration 
and the traffic that it brings at our borders because it is setting a 
precedent for the future. We know that. We have seen history repeat 
itself. Do they actually think that those who are illegally here will 
voluntarily go back to their home country, stand at the back of the 
line, and pay a fine when they are already here? And if they are 
caught, it is rare that they are deported. That is the incentive to 
integrate the right way, to come into this country through legal 
channels.
  The law should be enforced, Mr. Speaker. That is what people want to 
see. No amnesty, enforce the laws on the book, not reward those that 
have illegally entered the country, be certain that people immigrate to 
this Nation the right way.
  It is also a matter of national security. In this post-9/11 era, it 
is against our national security interest to allow an open border. For 
instance, three of the six people that are charged in plotting to 
attack U.S. Army post, Fort Dix, were in the country illegally. Records 
show there is no record of them ever entering this country. Many of the 
9/11 hijackers were in the country with expired visas. Yet, several of 
them still had their driver's license.
  It is evident that radical terrorists whose sole purpose is to 
destroy this Nation and our way of life are here living among us. It is 
time that we stand

[[Page 12348]]

in the gap. It is time that we do our job, that we lead, and we do it 
to protect the American people. They are watching.

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