Speech #1030131523

McCAIN. and HUTCHISON. The legislation is similar to an amendment I successfully offered to the crime bill in the Senate on November 16. 1993. This bill strengthens the language in the Senate crime bill and would require the Federal Government. as the entity that is solely responsible for our Nations immigration and naturalization policy. to incarcerate or to reimburse State and local units of government for the cost of incarcerating criminal aliens. During consideration of the crime bill in the Senate late last year. much was said about the failure of State and local government to control crime. The failure is one of a lack of adequate resources and one for which the Federal Government also has a responsibility. Consequently. to address this problem. our legislation attempts to acknowledge the following: First. the Federal Government should be a partner with State and local units of government and assist them in the effort to attack our Nations crime problem. and. second. the Federal Government has failed to accept its responsibility for immigration policy. and thereby. criminal aliens. With respect to the latter point. the Federal Government has never fully addressed its fundamental responsibility for our Nations immigration policy as enumerated in Article I. Section 8 of the Constitution. That power and singular responsibility was conferred upon the Federal Government by states "to establish an uniform rule of naturalization." Consequently. immigration and naturalization is a core. but often failed. responsibility of the Federal Government. Individual States have no capacity. either under law or in resources. to control access to illegal entrants to our Nation. Unfortunately. when the Federal Government does not adequately address its responsibility for illegal immigration. State and local government is often left with the burden of that failure. The day before I offered the amendment to the crime bill. Michael Fix and Jeffrey S. Passel of the Urban Institute provided an analysis of immigration cost shifting in testimony before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources. They said. "* * * the distribution of costs and revenues within the intergovernmental system can be viewed as being in imbalance. Immigrant tax payments flow to Washington while most of the costs of providing services fall to State and local government." This is something that is readily apparent in the criminal justice system. The States of California. New York.