Speech #980140196

Mr. Speaker. when you announced in early October that you had decided not to let the immigration bill come to the floor of the House. everyone reacted with amazement. alarm. and disbelief. After months of preparation and work by four major committees. it was hard to believe that your reaction to a brief statement from a handful of Members could turn the whole legislative process around. and bring the House of Representatives to a crashing halt at the Speakers desk. According to the Border Patrol. 92.380 illegal aliens were apprehended since October 4 when you decided to hold up the bill. That is probably about half of the actual number of aliens who slipped across the border in the last month. If only half of the illegals who are not apprehended manage to get jobs in this country. and if the same number evade capture by the Border Patrol in November and December. your action will have cost the American worker more than 100.000 jobs by the end of the year. Mr. Speaker. there is a discharge petition at the desk. to bring to the floor of the House the rule on the immigration bill. It is discharge petition No. 5. and I urge all the Members to sign it. whether or not they are in support of the bill. The House of Representatives should have the right to debate this measure.