Speech #1090171361

I rise in opposition to H.R. 6061. The consideration of H.R. 6061 is a thinly veiled effort from the Republican Leadership to garner their partys base support in November. H.R. 6061 is a red herring to the real issue that Congress should address: comprehensive immigration reform. But. as we all know. "Politics . . . (for) all too long. has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong." (Richard Armour) This bills objectives are not new to this body. in fact. we have already voted on them in the form of H.R. 4377. the very bill which has spurred protests all year long. throughout the country. due to its punitive and unjust nature. The major initiative in H.R. 6061 is to complete segments of fencing. eventually ensuring 700 miles of it along the southwestern border. One section of this wall would cover practically the whole ArizonaCalifornia border. But Republicans and Democrats know that more fencing along the border is like placing a bandaid on a gaping wound. It will not fix our broken immigration system. it will only serve to move the flow of illegal immigration into more remote and dangerous portions of the country. In fact. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has called fencing "a less efficient way" to address border security than adding more border security officers and yet this Republican led House insists on considering this bill. Furthermore. building a 2layer fence through hundreds of miles of public lands and National Parks will have severe ramifications on the delicate ecosystems of the desert. Already in Arizona alone. the Border Patrol estimates that 39 protected or proposed to be protected species are being affected by its operations. This only serves to highlight how this issue has not been viewed through a comprehensive lens. As people cross our southern border. what kind of image do we want to portray to visitors. our own citizens or their family members? We should not convince ourselves that America is exempt from the images associated with other historic barriers. such as the Berlin Wall. the Maginot Line and the Great Wall of China. I urge the Republican Leadership ot the House of Representatives to address comprehensive reform of the Nations immigration system so that immigration is legal. safe. orderly. and reflective of the needs of American families. businesses. and national security instead of engaging in this election year political grandstanding.