[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 10353-10354]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      AMNESTY GROWS WELFARE ROLLS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Alabama (Mr. Brooks) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROOKS of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, America suffers from four 
consecutive trillion-dollar deficits and a $17 trillion debt that risks 
a debilitating American insolvency and bankruptcy.
  Financial responsibility is the key to minimizing America's risk of 
economic disaster wrought by crippling debt. Yet the Senate Gang of 
Eight amnesty bill is the height of financial irresponsibility. It 
makes illegal aliens a bigger financial burden on America, racks up 
higher deficits, and increases America's risk of insolvency and 
bankruptcy.
  The Senate Gang of Eight bill immediately gives illegal aliens State 
and local welfare. That is in addition to the Federal welfare illegal 
aliens already lawfully and unlawfully get.
  For example, watchdog group Judicial Watch reports that an assistant 
case manager in charge of food stamp applications stated:

       Illegals would come by the van load and we were told to 
     give them their stuff. Management knew very well they were 
     illegal. It was so rampant that some employees would tell 
     their illegal relatives to come and get food stamps.

  Judicial Watch adds:

       The promotion of the food stamp program, now known as SNAP, 
     Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, includes a 
     Spanish-language flyer provided to the Mexican Embassy by the 
     United States Department of Agriculture, with a statement 
     advising Mexicans in the United States that they do not need 
     to declare their immigration status in order to receive 
     financial assistance.

  Judicial Watch goes further:

       The United States Department of Agriculture spent taxpayer 
     money to run Spanish-language television ads encouraging 
     illegal aliens to apply for government-financed food stamps. 
     The Mexican Consul in Santa Ana, California, starred in 
     United States

[[Page 10354]]

     Government-financed TV commercials and assured illegal aliens 
     that receiving food stamps ``won't affect your immigration 
     status.''

  Judicial Watch concluded that:

       Adding insult to injury, last spring, the United States 
     Department of Agriculture Inspector General revealed that 
     many food stamp recipients use their welfare benefit to buy 
     drugs, weapons and other contraband from unscrupulous 
     vendors, disclosing that the fraud has cost American 
     taxpayers nearly $200 million.
       A comprehensive study by the Heritage Foundation found that 
     ``many unlawful immigrants have U.S.-born children. These 
     children are currently eligible for the full range of 
     government welfare and medical benefits.''

  The study notes that:

       In 2010, the average unlawful immigrant household received 
     around $24,721 in government benefits and services, while 
     paying some $10,334 in taxes. This generated an average 
     annual fiscal deficit, benefits received minus taxes paid, of 
     around $14,387 per household.

  The Heritage Foundation confirms that the Senate Gang of 8 amnesty 
bill will:

       After 13 years, unlawful immigrants would become eligible 
     for means-tested welfare and ObamaCare. At that point, or 
     shortly thereafter, former unlawful immigrant households 
     would likely begin to receive government benefits at the same 
     rate as lawful immigrant households of the same education 
     level. As a result, government spending and fiscal deficits 
     would increase dramatically.
       The Senate Gang of 8 amnesty bill is reckless with the 
     truth and misleads the American people. Not only will illegal 
     immigration increase American taxpayer burdens through 
     welfare, ObamaCare, and other pay-outs, but illegal 
     immigration is already costing the United States taxpayers 
     more than $14,000 a year per illegal alien household.

                              {time}  1210

  All told, per the Federation of Americans for Immigration Reform, 
illegal aliens already cost American taxpayers roughly $100 billion per 
year in net tax losses.
  The Senate Gang of 8 amnesty bill does not properly manage welfare, 
does not give border security, mismanages tax dollars, thereby 
hammering already stressed and overtaxed American families and 
taxpayers while aggravating America's already bad financial situation, 
thus increasing America's risk of a debilitating insolvency and 
bankruptcy.
  Mr. Speaker, the Senate Gang of 8 bill must be defeated at all costs. 
America's future depends on it.

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