Speech #1000080330

Mr. Chairman. those of us who grappled with immigration reform last year and in years past have had our share of disagreements. But no matter how healthy or heated those debates. we never questioned the wisdom of that oftrepeated phrase. "America must regain control of its borders." That premise. we all agreed. was the reason for changing the old immigration laws in the first place. The Federal Government has an obligation to stem the flow of illegal immigration to this country. Or so we said. Ironically. the bill now before us runs exactly counter to the longstanding and previously unquestioned premise of immigration reform. helping America regain control of its borders. If passed. this socalled "double amnesty" would actually encourage a new wave of illegal immigration into the United States. During the debate over the immigration bill last year. many of my colleaguesDemocrats and Republicans alikespoke of the unfairness of granting blanket amnesty to one group of illegal aliens while denying it to all others. including and especially those who had sought U.S. citizenship through existing legal channels. H.R. 618 builds on this spirit of unfairness. then carries it a step further. It gives a select group of illegal aliensin this case. Nicaraguans and Salvadoransan exemption from deportation for 3 years. pending a GAO study of their special status. Never mind that GAO completed a similar study in May of this year. or that the "revised" study would cost taxpayers as much as $750.000. Until now. the Attorney General of the United States has been responsible for enforcing our Nations immigration policy. Yet by establishing a countryspecific "floating deportation stay" linked to a GAO study. this bill would actually transfer this vital responsibility to. of all people. the Comptroller General. Not only that. but the Congressional Budget Office estimates this bill would raise costs to State and local governments by as much as $130 million in the next 2 fiscal years alone. All to permit a select group of aliens having no legitimate claim of political persecution the right to remain in this country at the expense of others. Mr. Chairman. I urge my colleagues to vote against this bill. jujst as we stripped similar provisions from the conference report on the immigration bill last year. Simple fairness demands no less.