Tancredo Blasts Dem Plan to Attach Amnesty Riders to Defense Bill

Press Release

Tancredo Blasts Dem Plan to Attach Amnesty Riders to Defense Bill

Congressman asks Reid to stop any attempt to attach pro-illegal immigrant riders to Defense Authorization Bill

( WASHINGTON, D.C. ) - Representative Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton) today blasted a new plan by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Diane Feinstein (D-CA) to attach pro-illegal immigrant riders to the Defense Authorization Bill.

"Piggy-backing amnesty legislation onto a defense bill is completely unacceptable and a slap in the face to Americans," Tancredo said. "One would think the open-borders crowd had learned their lesson by now."

Senator Durbin, who in 2005 compared troops to "Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime — Pol Pot or others — that had no concern for human beings" during a Senate floor speech, is attempting to add a provision that would enable illegal aliens to access taxpayer-subsidized tuition benefits. Senator Feinstein is attempting to attach a provision that would provide a blanket amnesty to 2 million illegal aliens. The controversial provisions would be tacked on to a must-pass Defense Authorization bill.

In the letter, Tancredo asked Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to put an end to efforts in the Senate to attach any measures to unrelated legislation that would reward illegal aliens with amnesty or allow them increased access to publicly funded benefits.

"Using a military bill - when we have troops in the field - as a vehicle for trying to sneak these kinds of unpopular measures by the public would be a terrible mistake," said Tancredo. "Providing amnesty or taxpayer funded benefits is bad enough - but attempting to pass such measures on the backs of the military would be perhaps the most cynical attempt at parliamentary gimmickry in recent history. The American public and the military deserve better."

Source