[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 18]
[House]
[Pages 24799-24800]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    THE RULE OF LAW IS BEING IGNORED

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the open borders crowd is at it again, 
pushing for amnesty for people that are illegally in the United States.
  It is bad public policy to give a wink and a nod to people who 
continue to advocate the exploitation of American border laws for their 
own personal agenda. A nation cannot survive in freedom without just 
following the law. The very future of any civilization rests upon the 
rule of law.
  Now, we are a self-governing people. That means we are a Nation of 
laws. We don't get to choose what laws we follow and what ones we 
don't. That would mean complete chaos. If people want to come to the 
United States legally, by all means let them come legally. Sign the 
guest book at the port of entry so we know who you are, so we know the 
purpose of your visit and whether or not you mean harm to American 
citizens. That means everybody who comes here, not just a select few.
  The push to reward illegal behavior today by granting amnesty only 
encourages more of the same illegal behavior. A new Zogby-Washington 
Times poll in Mexico found that 56 percent of Mexican nationals 
surveyed said that if we pardon illegal immigrants here, it will 
encourage more of

[[Page 24800]]

them to come across the border illegally.
  The poll also showed that most folks in Mexico think their countrymen 
who come here still owe their loyalty to Mexico, not America. Now, 
these are things the open borders crowd won't tell you. Many people 
come here and don't want to become Americans; they just want the 
personal benefits of being in the United States without any obligation 
to the country. And amnesty will only encourage more illegal entry.

                              {time}  1630

  Anyone who comes to this country permanently owes this Nation the 
respect of learning what it means to be an American--embracing the 
melting pot concept. They should honor the sacrifices of the men and 
women who have made our history great in these 200-plus years. This 
mighty Nation is the beacon of liberty, and it did not happen by 
chance. It came through hard work and sacrifice in the name of freedom. 
It came from following a set of principles and ideals, and it came from 
following the rule of law--laws passed by our representative form of 
government with the consent of the governed.
  The American dream is not about money; it's about liberty, and those 
who come here owe this Nation an obligation to understand that. They 
need to learn what freedom is and how we go about keeping it, and a big 
part of that is following the law.
  Solving the problems of illegals and the crisis they have created 
will not be an easy task before us. There are those who want amnesty 
and who support policies that promote more illegal entry and 
lawlessness. These are unacceptable in a post-9/11 world. We can start 
by enforcing the law and showing we are serious about it. We also need 
to eliminate policies in this country that encourage and ignore illegal 
entry.
  Such policies include easy access to jobs with little enforcement on 
employers who knowingly hire illegals; free health care and free 
education, policies that don't promote assimilation; and the inability 
of local law enforcement to assist Federal immigration authorities.
  We need to upgrade interior enforcement of immigration laws. Many 
people come here legally, then they never go home, because this Nation 
doesn't do much about visa overstays. Border security is a national 
security issue. We just witnessed recently a Jordanian national who 
came here legally, who overstayed his visa and then tried to blow up a 
Dallas skyscraper. Thanks to the work of law enforcement, this bombing 
plot was averted.
  We owe an obligation to the future of this Nation to guard and secure 
our borders, to permit entry of only people who will benefit our Nation 
and to keep up with those who enter as guests of our country. It is not 
too much to require that people legally enter the United States or 
don't come at all.
  And that's just the way it is.

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