Speech #1100050235

I appreciate the conversation that just went on and the gentleman from Floridas amendment and his desire to modify his amendment because I think it brings out the point clearly that this is. in fact. a closed rule and should be recognized as such by our colleagues and by the American people. This amendment I am offering. along with Representatives CAPITO. and CAMPBELL and PEARCE. and I want to thank them for their leadership on this issue and urge my colleagues to look at this amendment carefully. This amendment would prevent illegal immigrants from owning or renting housing built by funds from the Affordable Housing Fund by requiring the adult occupants of that housing to establish their legal residency through the use of secure forms of identification. Across the country. whether it is Denver. where in 2006 there was an estimated 20.000 illegal immigrants holding FHAinsured loans. or L.A.. where banks have begun offering them credit cards. clear reform and oversight is necessary. In some of these cases. like the FHA loans. the documents submitted with their applications to GSE are later proved to be false. resident alien numbers that have never been issued. Social Security numbers that belong to other people. and W2 forms that are fabricated. In the case of financial institutions. minimal documents are required by their regulators to establish a new customers identity to open accounts. and then after a few short months pass. banks are giving these illegal immigrants credit cards. So the current loopholes in Federal law are an invitation to illegal immigration. and we shouldnt reward those coming here illegally with the privilege of the services afforded to American citizens. This would clearly result in backdoor amnesty. Our amendment would require the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to ensure that any assistance provided from the Affordable Housing Fund should be for adults who are legal residents in the United States. Occupants of this housing may either use a foreign service or U.S. passport. a Citizenship and Immigration Services. CIS. photo ID card. or a Social Security card in conjunction with a State or Federal ID. These forms of identification are considered to be the most secure types of identification because they are harder to forge or to duplicate. They are all issued by a government agency which has more checks and balances against illegal immigrants. criminals. or terrorists from obtaining these documents. The current regulations to establish a customers identity do a disservice to the American people. And I am confident that greater clarification in this area will help stem the tide of illegal aliens. which has been promoted due to a lack of clarity on this issue. The Federal Government should not be operated under obscure parameters that do not serve our Nation. We can strengthen these regulations to help protect America.