Speech #980219277

While some Members may oppose the bill without its present legalization provisions. a number of Members. including the gentleman in the well may feel compelled to oppose the bill if the legalization provisions remain unchanged. I am unswayed by the argument that employer sanctions. in and of themselves. are unacceptable. Although this body may have previously debated employer sanctions. the current mood of the American public calls for immigration control. not amnesty. Employer sanctions remove the incentive for undocumented aliens to come to this country. if enforced. I am also not convinced that all who are presently here illegally will stay once the incentive of a job is removed. Therefore. we have no way of judging the extent to which amnesty will be needed after the implementation and enforcement of employer sanctions occurs. While legalization may be humanitarian to those who would qualify for it. it is a means and not an end to our undocumented alien problem. and does not solve the fundamental problem. That fundamental problem is the enforcement of our countrys laws which we seem today in this debate to be neglecting. On the other hand. through the bills legalization provisions. we are changing the law simply because we cannot enforce it. On the other hand. we are saying that employer sanctions cannot be effectively enforced. If this body cannot have the integrity to respect and defend the laws we pass. what is our purpose? The McCollum amendment provides a solution to those undocumented aliens who have begun to work and begun to contribute and are encultured members of our society. but unlike the legalization program. it does not give a slap in the face to those who respect our laws and have waited outside our borders for that opportunity to come here legally. It is the humane and wise decision that you will make if you support the McCollum amendment. As I have said in this debate. the outnumbers. because the committees majority has refused to limit those numbers. are staggering and their economic consequences suffocating to what this goose we have that lays the golden egg must offer to those poor. those tired. those huddled masses yearning to be free.