Speech #1040267198

Speaker. Look at the results. We have gotten bipartisan welfare reform. bipartisan telecommunications reform. bipartisan health insurance reform. a lineitem veto measure that passed with bipartisan support. environmental protections that have had bipartisan support. and now a major illegal immigration bill that also enjoys tremendous bipartisan support. In each case. the final product from this Congress has been a major accomplishment where past Congresses have unfortunately produced failure. Mr. Speaker. in California. illegal immigration is a problem in its own right. but it is also a factor that contributes to other problems. It undermines job creation by taxing local resources. it threatens wage gains by supplying undocumented labor. it has been a major factor in public school overcrowding. forcing nearly $2 billion in State and local resources to be spent each year educating illegal immigrants rather than Californias children. As with other major national problems. the American people want results. not rhetoric. as I was saying. H.R. 2202 fills that bill. It is not perfect. There are Members of this House who spent years trying to address illegal immigration who think that the bill could be better. and I am one who thinks that this bill could be better. This conference report is not the answer to all of our problems. However. that is not a fair test. and it is not the test that the American people want us to use. People do not want us to kill good results in the name of perfection. There is no question that this conference report. filled with bipartisan proposals to improve the fight against illegal immigration. should pass. and pass with broad bipartisan support. as I am sure it will. The bill dramatically improves border enforcement. fights document fraud and targets alien smuggling. makes it easier to deport illegal immigrants. creates a much needed pilot program to get at the problem of illegal immigrants filling jobs. and makes clear that illegal immigrants do not qualify for welfare programs. Together. Mr. Speaker. this is not just a good first step. it takes us a good way toward our goal of ending this very serious problem of illegal immigration. Mr. Speaker.