Speech #1090173783

I am afraid. to move this issue to the public forefront in not a very positive way. in some respects. a very negative way. In that effort. they came up with the inspiration for a new bill. In other words. they walked away from their earlier bill which dealt with immigration enforcement in very harsh terms. saying that those who were here illegally would be deemed felons. aggravated felons under Federal law. and anyone who helped them would also been charged with the crime. Now they are off on a new approachthis socalled 700mile fence approach. It is hard to keep track of what is going on in the House of Representatives when it comes to immigration. It changes almost on daily or weekly bases. Before they will consider sitting down with the Senate and working out an agreement on a bill. they send us a new bill. That is what has happened here. I wonder why at a time when we are facing so many serious issues in this country we are engaged in such political posturing when it comes to an issue of this importance. Wouldnt it have been better for us to spend this week. instead of wasting and burning off the hours on the secure fence billthe second House immigration billfocus on a national energy policy. talk about ways that we can reduce our dependence on foreign oil so that Americans can have some security knowing that this economy will grow with good. reliable energy sources. and that we would not be subsidizing those who send oil to the United States and then turn around and use the hundreds of millions of dollars we send to finance our enemies and terrorism? This is not really about immigration. It is about something else. This is about an effort by the Republican leadership to find just the right issue for an election that is just a few weeks away.