Speech #1040267952

Be prepared to object. If you want to object. you have to come and do it. With regard to the immigration conference report. that bill and the Presidio conference report bill are classic examples of why we have problems developing trust between the Congress and the administration. For weeks. we have been told the problem with the illegal immigration bill was the socalled Gallegly amendment which would have allowed States like California not to have to continue to spend endlessly $2 billion a year for the education of 380.000 or more illegal immigrants children. We realized that was a problem. The President made it very clear that with the Gallegly amendment attached. he would veto it. We had a threatened filibuster. So we proceeded to work out a United States of America compromise agreement or perhaps even take the Gallegly amendment off the illegal immigration bill. Eventually. and finally. in an effort to try to have cooperation and to attach the illegal immigration bill to the continuing resolution. the Gallegly amendment was removed. So we were prepared to go ahead with the laboriously developed illegal immigration bill that has been worked on literally for years. not just months. with tremendous effort by the Senator from Wyoming. Senator SIMPSON. Congressman SMnTH of Texas. Senator DEWiNE. and a wide variety of other Senators and Congressmen. But then when Gallegly was taken off and the bill was ready to go. all of a sudden the administration shows up and says. "Oh. gee. by the way. we dont like the provisions that might be applicable to legal immigrants in this bill. so if you dont remove title V. we will object to its being put in the continuing resolution. or if it comes to the floor. we will object to unanimous consent. We may even insist on having the bill read in its entirety." Absolute. total dilatory tactics. insisting we read aloud the entire bill. The truth of the matter is. the Gallegly amendment had been used as a mask to cover the opposition of the administration to any real illegal immigration reform legislation. That is really what is going on here. So I am at a loss.