Speech #1030136261

Chairman. I urge Members to vote against this amendment. and I say that with an understanding of the gravity and importance of this problem. The first duty of Government is to protect the safety of its citizens. and probably right along with that is the duty to protect the borders of the United States and to see that illegal immigration does not take place. Like many of my colleagues in the chamber. I have been on the border many times. the Canadian border. and I have been to places like Miami. where illegal immigration occurs. and I have been on the border with Mexico. The truth is that we are not making a sufficient effort with the Immigration Service to make sure that illegal immigration does not take place. Perhaps we need to bring the Immigration Service bill back up on this floor. Hopefully. it will come later in the year and we can have this discussion. I am prepared. and I think a lot of Members are prepared. to appropriate additional moneys to make sure that our borders are secure. I am convinced that we can do a far better job than we are doing. I stood at the border at Tiajuana not long ago. and I watched illegal immigration take place. I talked to the immigration officers who were there. and they said. "Yes. we could do a much better job. but we are not prepared today to do it because we do not have the commitment of the U.S. Congress through funding sources to make possible what needs to be done." I think this amendment is illadvised. We are seeing this kind of amendment on a whole series of bills before this House. Let us check on people that want to got into a training program. lot us check on people that want to got into a school. lot us chock on people who want to do all manner of things that Government agencies that are outside the Immigration Service are not prepared to do. It does not make sense to turn every school and every school official in the country into an immigration officer. That is not their job. They are not prepared to do it. They do not have the equipment to do it. they do not have the personnel to do it. they do not have the time to do it. they do not have the ability to do it correctly? So lot us please not burden every piece of legislation that comes through here with an added responsibility to enforce the immigration laws of this country. Let us get the immigration laws enforced by the Immigration Service and by the Border Patrol. I was told by our immigration officers that earlier last year. when the Mexican Government and our Government got more serious about illegal immigration for about a 2month period. illegal immigration dropped precipitously. It can be done. But let us do it in the right place. and lot us have this discussion on an immigration bill that comes before this House. and let us keep the responsibility where it belongs. not in the schools and not in the training programs of this country. but in the Immigration Service. which has that responsibility. I urge Members to vote against this amendment.