Speech #960209042

Mr. Speaker. the U.S. Census Bureau is proceeding with its plans to include illegal aliens in the 1980 census. which would result in a gross distortion of the reapportionment in the House of Representatives and in the allocation of Federal financial assistance. There is. no doubt. an immediate need to determine. once and for all. the number of illegal aliens in the United States. Currently. experts can only estimate that there are between 6 and 12 million illegal aliens. For too long we have hidden our unwillingness to tackle the illegal alien issue behind the excuse that we do not know the seriousness of the problem. Now is the time to make that determination. Yet. if illegal aliens are included in our population figures. it will mean a total disregard for the "one person. one vote" constitutional principle upon which our country is founded. The problem of illegal aliens is one of growing significance in the United States. The steady flow of illegals. mainly from south of the border. has created a number of difficulties: in employment. crime associated with the entrance of illegals into the country. fraudulent documents. and the displacement of American workers. Secretary of Labor F. Ray Marshall admitted recently that U.S. unemployment could be reduced by 2 percent. from 6 to 4 percent. if it were not for illegal aliens. Illegal aliens have robbed our unemployed of millions of jobs. However. if the Bureau of the Census succeeds in including illegal aliens in the censusthey will also rob millions of American citizens of the right to equal governmental representation and their fair share of Federal assistance funds. In addition. their inclusion in the census would have the effect of institutionalizing the unimpeded flow of millions of illegal aliens and would only compound the already heavy economic and social costs. The Library of Congress has computed the effects of the census plan on apportionment. assuming that there are 8 million illegal aliens in the country and that they are located proportionately to legal aliens. Based on this premise. my home State of Iowa. as well as Missouri. Kansas.