Mr. Chairman. I speak on this subject as the ranking Republican on the Immigration Subcommittee. and perhaps in some ways it sounds like I am merely reiterating what other Members have said. But I do think it bears repeating over and over again how important this particular bill. along with other things. is to our whole question of immigration in this country. Coming from the Southwest portion of the United States. I can tell the Members that unless we come to grips with the immigration situation in this country. we are virtually running the risk of losing one of the major evidences of sovereignty. that is. control of the borders and determination of what type of society one country or the other wishes to maintain. Those who have at times argued with those of us who have supported the SimpsonMazzoli approach have suggested that all we do is deal with the pull factor in our immigration bill. that is. the attraction of jobs. and that in fact unless we do something with the push factors. those things that drive people out of the countries in the Central and South American regions. we will do nothing. Well. this is an opportunity for us to do something about that push factor. It is an open opportunity for us in essence to put our money where our mouth is and for us to suggest that if we truly believe that if we are going to do anything about the immigration situation from Central and South America. we must cooperate with the countries of that region to try and shore up their economic situation. such that they can do things to help themselves. There is a crying need in that portion of the world for this type of assistance. For whatever reason. we have long ignored our neighbors to the south. either on immigration policy or trade policy and in some cases military policy. We can no longer afford to do that. There is an impending crisis upon us. and we cannot at this point indeed fail to act.
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Immigration immigration