Speech #1040267403

I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time. Mr. Speaker. the bill H.R. 4134 is a modified version of the Gallegly amendment which passed by a margin of almost 100 votes on this House floor during a debate on immigration reform just last March. Like the Gallegly amendment which was passed overwhelmingly by a bipartisan majority. H.R. 4134 does nothing more than remove the Federal Governments ability to force States to provide a free public education to persons who are not legally in this country. This legislation would allow all States full discretion in the way they want to handle the public education of illegal immigrants. However. unlike the original Gallegly amendment. this bill has been modified to ensure that it impacts only prospectively illegal immigrant students. This grandfathered provision provides that all illegal aliens currently enrolled in any public school at any time during the current year up to July 1. 1997. a State could not deny a free public education through grade 12. It only ends the current policy by which the Federal Government guarantees all future illegal immigrants in every State a free public education at the expense of the taxpayers in perpetuity. In other words. even if a State determined that they would like to deny free public education to illegals. they would only be permitted to deny future entrants or future illegal entries to be enrolled. Those currently enrolled would be exempt. Let me make one other important point. For instance. if my friends from the State of Texas. Oregon or New Jersey decide they want to provide a free public education to all illegal immigrants. even those that arrive here illegally in the future. they would be still perfectly entitled to do so under this legislation. Mr. Speaker. this bill is good for California and it is good for the Nation. We must end a policy that encourages future illegal immigration which further depletes our funds for public education and results in overcrowded classrooms. There has been a lot of debate about the children. But we have forgotten about the children that have a legal right in this country. whether they are legal residents or citizens.