Speech #1100041788

Mr. President. I once again today introduced S. 1269. the ENFORCE Act. because this body has failed to move forward with sound immigration legislation. My bill is a strong step in the right direction to help solve our growing problem of illegal immigration. I did this already. I did this last year. We had a chance to talk about it. but we never were able to get this up to a vote. I do want to keep this subject moving because people are not talking about this anymore. This bill focuses on securing our borders and empowering our citizens and law enforcement officers to fight the alltime high flood of illegal immigrants. There are around a million illegal aliens infiltrating our borders each year. It also addresses some of the lesser known but equally destructive exploitations of our Nation by some of these illegal immigrants. I wish to be clear. for some reason1 am not sure why- I have been honored over the years to speak at nationalization ceremonies. It is one of the emotional things a person can go through. When you see people coming into this country and doing it the way they are supposed to. they learn the history. Those who have gone through the legal process know more about the history of America than the average person you run into on the street. I am very strongly in favor of legal immigration. In 1997. the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform stated that "measured. legal immigration has led to create one of the worlds greatest multiethnic nations." I agree with that statement. I also agree with their statement that when immigrants become "Americanized." they help cultivate a shared commitment to "liberty. democracy. and equal opportunity"~ in our Nation. That is legal immigration. I agree with that. However. I am quoting now from Roy Beck. executive director of Numbers USA. He stated: A presence of 8 to 11 million illegal aliensI think the figure is now approximately 12 millionin this country is a sign that this country has lost control of its borders and the ability to determine who is a member of this national community. And a country that has lost that ability increasingly loses its ability to determine the rules of its societyenvironmental protections. labor protection. health protections. safety protections. Further quoting: In fact. a country that cannot keep illegal immigration to a low level quickly ceases to be a real country. or a real community. Rather than being selfgoverned. such a country begins to have its destiny largely determined by citizens of other countries who manage to move in illegally. With that being said. I cannot and I will not stand idly by and watch our great Nation collapse under the pressures of uncontrolled illegal immigration. This is a crisis. one that must be addressed aggressively. While I would not belabor the point. I will chronicle some of illegal immigrations specific threats to our Nations vitality and how this bill will address them.* First and foremost. the issue of border security must be addressed. My bill would help ramp up border security by providing a way for civilians and retired law enforcement officers to assist the Border Patrol in stopping illegal border crossings. Keep in mind. if you are a retired Federal law enforcement officer. they have a mandatory retirement age of 57. There are many of these who would work for expenses. What we are advocating is a threetiered system where you have the Border Patrol who are skilled the way they are today but have them fortified by this army of retired law enforcement officers and then bring in the third tier which are those which we have watched in the past that have been very effective in adding to the numbers on the border. It is already working. It is very similar to the National Neighborhood 53.