Speech #1090098851

I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4437. This legislation is long overdue. and I want to thank Chairman SENSENBRENNER and Chairman KING of New York for their great work in bringing this bill to the floor. My constituents are fed up with porous borders. lax enforcement. and excuses about why the Federal Government is unable or unwilling to ensure that immigrants entering our country are legal. This measure provides genuine solutions such as stateoftheart surveillance technology. 8.000 new border agents. and widespread physical barriers. The citizens of Altoona. Pennsylvania. experienced the sobering realities of a poorly enforced immigration system when this last August an illegal alien with a prior criminal record of assault. reckless endangerment. and a weapons violation murdered three innocent people. Had the catch and release practice been eliminated and mandatory detention been in place. perhaps this painful tragedy could have been prevented. Mr. Chairman. this bills time has come. We cannot continue to allow overwhelming numbers of illegal immigrants to flood our communities without any scrutiny. I urge all of my colleagues to support this commonsense approach that will combat illegal immigration and strengthen our Nations security.