Speech #990215854

Then they come back. Who would want to live there? This is their country." In other words. economics serves as the breeding ground for illegal immigration. As the gap between the Mexican and American economies widens. the incentive for illegal entry grotVs stronger. Not surprisingly. the exponential growth of illegal entries into the United States has multiplied the responsibilities of local law enforcement and health services. In turn. local government officials have been to react angrily to the burden this Federal responsibility places on them. Susan Golding. presently a supervisor in San Diego County. has demanded that the Federal Government pay that county $23 million for criminal justice and medical expenses that have alledgedly arisen from the undocumented alien deluge. Officials in El Paso County and Los Angeles County have made similar claims. In New York. city officials welcomed yesterdays Federal district court decision granting the use of Medicaid funds to illegal aliens. According to the New York Times. this ruling could result in $25 million in Federal Medicaid funds for the city. More importantly. it could lead to additional lawsuits against the Federal Government as States. localities. and special interest groups seek the approval of funds for illegal aliens In their areas. Unfortunately. many senior citizens and poor individuals may not see the equity of granting Medicaid to those given the puzzling appellation of nonlegal permanent resident aliensthat is the name that the Federal judge used instead of illegal alienswhen they themselves frequently struggle to acquire even the most basic health care. If the total of illegal entries does in fact reach 2 million this year. local governments may not be the only parties losing patience with the immigration situation. Mr. Speaker. it is by no means my intention to argue that drug trafficking. terrorism. or crime in the border States should by themselves mandate the passage of H.R. 3810. H.R. 1061. or any other attempt at comprehensive immigration reform. But we must recognize that these perceived or actual dangers have already begun to influence public opinion. If Congress does not act on comprehensive immigration reform legislation this year. the emotionalism generated by code words such as terrorism may preclude reasonable legislative programs in this issue area. Parenthetically. I should observe that the House lacks any substantive excuse for continued delay. The Senate has repeatedly passed comprehensive immigration reform legislation. The Reagan administration endorsed reform of our immigration laws as early as July 1981. and has continued to endorse such legislation over the succeeding 5 years. On March 11. the President met with congressional leadersleaders from the House. leaders from the Senate. the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary. the chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration. the ranking Republican on the Committee on the Judiciary. the ranking Republican on the Subcommittee on Immigration. and other Members. the Attorney General of the United States. the head of the White House staff. and also Senator SIMPSON. from the U.S. Senate. who has been largely responsible for efforts to move immigration reform on that side. and also the whip in the U.S. Senate. On that day the President said four different times that he supported immigration reform. On July 2. President Reagan stated again that he backed immigration reform legislation. adding that it was necessary to correct a loss of control at Americas borders. Finally. as many of my colleagues are aware. a July 1 New York Times poll reported that almost 7 out of every 10 Americans favor employer sanctions. a key component of the immigration reform package. Although formidable problems do remain in the sphere of immigration reform. Americans should be proud of the progress of immigration legislation In the postwar era. Unlike the 1940s. when Congress balked at the prospect of largescale admission of wartime refugeesnotably European Jewsand postbellum displaced persons. America has emerged as the worlds most generous country when it comes to the admission of refugees. Through a series of legislative initiatives in the Truman and Eisenhower administrations and passage of the 1965 immigration reform bill. America has gradually but firmly rejected discrimination against certain nationalities in the operation of its immigration policies. The New York Times released a survey on July 1 which indicated that 68 percent of all Americans believe that new immigrants would be welcome in their neighborhoods. In this centennial year of the Statue of Liberty. it would indeed be tragic if Congress failed to forestall a response to immigration problems based on fear and anger. and thereby undid much of the good that has been accomplished in this area over the last 40 years. The potential of rash responses to our uncontrolled border also entails foreign policy implications. Accusations about narcotics trafficking in Mexico have already led to anger in the Mexican Government. President de la Madrid told commentator John McLaughlin on June that he now regards Customs Service Chief William von Raab as a unreliable source of information because of his allegations concerning corruption in the provincial governments. In a June speech in San Diego. Mexican Foreign Minister BernardoSepulveda called proponents of draconian border controls voices of darkness. I shudder to think of the aftershocks in Mexico City following a largescale militarization of U.S. borders. In other words. Mr. Speaker. we can head off that kind of reaction if we do what we were elected to do as Members of Congress. and that is deal with an important national issue. I can think of very few issues that are as important and national in scope as immigration.