Congressman Brian Bilbray One Minute Speech
Washington,
Jul 11, 2006 -
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman Royce for holding a
hearing in Imperial Beach in San Diego County
this week. And I think there was one very clear message, that amnesty is the
greatest mistake that we could have, not only for immigration, but for common
sense, and if not for common decency, that we should not reward those who have
broken our immigration laws while people, millions, wait to immigrate legally.
But the one consensus we could make in that hearing was
that Democrats and Republicans agree that the missing link in immigration
reform is not spending more money, but having more enforcement against the
source of the major cause of illegal immigration. That is illegal employment.
And so I would ask Democrats and Republicans to find these
hearings as a consensus to talk about what are we doing to stop illegal
employment. And I would ask both of you to take a look at Silvestre Reyes'
and David Dreier's bill, H.R. 98, which says that we are going to
crack down on illegal employers. But we are going to create a very simple way
for employers to know who is legal and who is illegal, and that is to have a
Social Security card that is as tamper resistant as our voting card.
So let's get together. If Silvestre Reyes and David
Dreier can work together, can't the House, both Democrats and Republicans,
work together to protect America?
