Speech #1050090396

Mr. Speaker. I am here to address an item that has not been discussed very much at all here on the House floor this year. but something that was discussed extensively last year with the passage of the Immigration Reform Act. This item will be considered under the Commerce. Justice. and State conference report very soon. This item is called 245(1). the notorious illegal alien amnesty program. It is a program that allows that somebody who has violated our immigration laws can pay $1.000 as a payment to be exempted from the immigration laws of the United States. This 245(I) allows those who have broken our laws to gain special status that those who are waiting patiently to immigrate into our country do not have access to. 245(I) means that the people who have played by the rules are being punished and that those who have broken the rules are now going to be rewarded. Mr. Speaker. I think there was one very clear message that we tried to articulate in the Immigration Reform Act of 1997. and that was that it was unfair to punish those who played by the rules and to reward those who broke the rules. And in fact that bill. the immigration reform bill. which was aimed at ending these types of policies. was passed by an overwhelming majority. by 320 votes in this House. Democrat and Republican joined together to tell the American people that we were going to stop the absurd process of rewarding illegal immigration. And also those 230 Members of Congress voted together here in this House to send a message not just to America but to the world that the days of rewarding people to come into this country illegally was going to end. and to tell everybody in the world that if they want to come to this country. then come here legally. If they play by the rules. then we will reward them.