Speech #1090100168

Chairman KING. Chairman SENSENBRENNER. the Homeland Security Committee. the Judiciary and Rules Committee. and their staffs. for their wonderful help in the preparation of this amendment and. frankly. for this debate and bringing this issue forward. Based on my experience in representing Georgians in both the State Senate and in Congress. this chamber is now dealing with the issue of immigration reform and border security because the American people are demanding it. Recent public opinion polling confirms what we all know. and that is that illegal Immigration is as Important as other major issues. including the war on terror and the economy. Such overwhelming support for border security and immigration reform is due to a general sense and knowledge that our current policy is one of benign neglect. An estimated 12 to 20 million illegal aliens live here. and the presence of so many illegal aliens undermines our rule of law. Today. the peoples body is heeding the will of the American people. Many of the ideas introduced by Members of the House. in fact. reflect very specific concerns of their constituents. and I believe that my amendment is one of those that properly reflects the voice of the populace. This amendment sets a hard deadline. a specific date of 18 months following adoption of the legislation to achieve complete operational control over our borders. In addition. it would clarify the working definition of operational control of our border to include the prevention of all unlawful entries into the United States. My amendment is a critical component to the border security debate because it provides the accountability portion. and it signifies to the American people that there will be no more excuses. Illegal entries into the United States will not be tolerated because our Nation is not secure unless our borders are secure. Instead of kicking the problem down the road just a little bit. the Federal Government is given the specific goal to get the current crisis under control.