Speech #990275329

Mr. Chairman. I rise in strong support of the McCollum amendment for the simple fact that if we condone amnesty. we are condoning an illegal act of those illegal immigrants who have entered this country illegally. I would point out that we let legally into this country half a million people from around the world each year. which is more than the rest of the free world combined. If we allow amnesty to be included in this immigration bill. we are. in effect. opening the door to millions and millions more people to come into the country because those who have been granted amnesty can then bring in their direct family members. In my State of Texas. we have a high unemployment rate. but recently in Fort Worth. in my district. they rounded up 300 illegal immigrants and deported them back to Mexico. The next day. 300 American citizens applied for those jobs that the illegal immigrants had taken. Mr. Chairman. I think that the amnesty provisions are one of the most controversial and one of the most negative parts of this immigration bill. I hope that we support the McCollum amendment and delete them.