Speech #1040072657

Mr. President. I rise today to address the issue of payment of benefits to illegal aliens and how it relates to the welfare reform bill that the Senate will be considering very shortly. As other Senators may knowand I hope that they all knowI have long had an interest in curtailing Federal benefits to illegal aliens as a matter of both sound immigration policy and sound fiscal policy. I have introduced that measure as either a standalone bill or an amendment in every Congress since 1989. long before measures like Californias proposition 187 arrived on the scene. In 1993. when we debated the comprehensive crime bill. the Senate overwhelmingly accepted my amendment to restrict the benefits. but unfortunately those provisions were dropped in conference with the House of Represenatives. That happens all too often. I need not remind the Senate of the growing concern for what the public considers a runaway immigration policy and porous borders. It is true that many Federal programs specifically exclude illegal aliens and their criteria for eligibility. But we now have the sorry condition of the money flowing out Just the same due to expansive and misguided agency regulation and court interpretations. We also now have large border States filing lawsuits against the Federal Government as a result of failures in our Federal immigration policy. with other States threatening to follow suit. It should be noted that the longawaited report from the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform. headed by respected former Representative Barbara Jordan. has generally recommended that illegal aliens notnotreceive publicly funded services or assistance. I agree wholeheartedly with that recommendation. I am hopeful that we will soon make significant progress in immigration reform and welfare reform. I am concerned. however. that meaningful measures to restrict Federal welfare benefits to only citizens and legal aliens will be lost in the shuffle. I submit. that when we turn to welfare reform. we have a golden opportunity to create a new and more coherent policy and stop. once and for all. paying benefits to illegal aliens. The Senate appears ready to give States more funding flexibility and responsibility to oversee our welfare programs. I think it is only fair that. in exchange for that high degree of flexibility. the Federal Government asks the States to stand with us in verifying Immigrant status and Identifying illegal aliens for speedy deportation. With the assistance of the States in the verification process. fewer illegal aliens will receive benefits and both Federal and State budgets will reflect those savings. It Is a simple fact that a deported alien will not continue to collect welfare benefits for months and even years. To this point. the Federal Government and the States have essentially been working at crosspurposes in enforcing the immigration law. The States have decried the Inability of the Federal Government to police its borders. But when Congress considers dropping benefits to illegal aliens. the States complain that they will be saddied with the full cost of providing these services. But aside from just a few exceptions. the point remains. and the point Is this: Neither the Federal Government nor the States should be paying for those benefits to those here illegally. Illegal alien means just that. illegal. That is why I believe the State agencies must help us identify illegal aliens so that they may be deported before they sap either the State or Federal budgets. It is time for a whole new way of thinking about this subject. We must initiate a joint new StateFederal resolvea new compact.