Speech #1040190406

Mr. Chairman. this bill benefits American families. workers. and taxpayers by reducing Illegal Immigration and reforming legal immigration. We live in a nation built upon the very principle of immigration and open borders. However. the generosity of this great Nation has been abused and those violating and abusing our laws have made a mockery of them. Our Nation has always welcomed legal immigrants that contribute to our society. and nothing will change with this bill. H.R. 2202 will reign In problems that are spiraling out of control. As we debate this bill. illegal aliens comprise onefourth of our Federal prison population. And 2 million Illegal aliensonehalf of the estimated 4 million illegal aliens In the countryuse fraudulent documents to Illegally obtain jobs and benefits. These jobs and benefits come straight out of the taxpayers pockets. costing them billions. This is simply unacceptable. Illegal aliens are draining our scarce national resources. There has been much debate over the content of legal immigration reform In this bill. I feel strongly that we must keep legal Immigration as a part of this measure. especially since much of the illegal Immigration is driven by problems in the legal immigration system. The American people support legal immigration reform--in fact. a recent Teeter poll shows that people support a 5year ban on illegal and legal immigration. Now. this bill does not ban legal immigration. but it does significantly reform It. We cannot ignore the wishes of the American people as we consider this important legislation. We have a responsibility to reform these laws and we must not shrink from it. H.R. 2202 is supported by a diverse coalition of organization across the country and cuts across all political. religious. racial. and socioeconomic lines. We must not ignore this strong message from the American people. Support immigration reform and support H.R.