Amendments

AMENDMENTS -- (House of Representatives - September 14, 2004)

Under clause 8 of rule XVIII, proposed amendments were submitted as follows:

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in opposition to this amendment. This amendment would strip language in the bill that represents a small but absolutely necessary step toward restoring some sense of sanity to our national immigration policy.

Ever since September 11, we have endured proposals to reward those who come here illegally, while efforts to enact responsible immigration reform have been defeated.

It just doesn't make sense. It seems that we have made no progress whatsoever in controlling illegal immigration.

Time Magazine has just reported that 3 million illegals will enter our country this year, adding to the 10 million who are already here.

This is the largest number since 2001, the year we were attacked. Is this progress?

Instead of cracking down on illegal immigrants and enforcing law and order, our borders are more porous and chaotic than ever.

Not only does this huge amount of illegal immigrants endanger our national security, but our crime rates and taxes are also adversely affected.

I say enough is enough. No more enticing or rewarding illegal immigrants with promises of amnesty or benefits. No more putting our national security at risk.

This means ending the acceptance of Matricula Consular cards, which are issued as a form of identification in Mexico.

Unfortunately, these cards can be easily forged or counterfeited, and they often are.

The FBI reports that there is no centralized database for issuing these cards, there are no uniform standards for its issuance, and in some cases all an applicant has to do to receive a card is say that he is who he purports to be.

The FBI determined that these are not adequate standards, that they are fraught with fraud, and I wholeheartedly agree.

This means that those with criminal backgrounds can easily assume false identities, come here, and break our laws.

This means that even those who are not Mexican can abuse the process and obtain one of these cards.

And don't think that people from Middle Eastern countries aren't trying to enter America over the Mexican border, because they are.

The FBI has noted that an Iranian national was recently found in possession of one of these cards.

And just a few weeks ago, the Associated Press reported that suspected al Qaeda member Adnan El Shurkrijamah might try to cross into Arizona or Texas.

This suspected terrorist has been identified by the FBI as the apparent mastermind of an al Qaeda plot to "launch a mass-casualty attack in the United States."

Mr. Chairman, none of us want illegal aliens using these cards to cross our border or to escape detection once they get here.

None of us want illegal aliens using these cards as a way to obtain driver's licenses or other forms of state-issued ID. Thirteen states, by the way, allow these cards to be used as ID for obtaining a driver's license.

And nobody wants these cards to be used to threaten our national security.

If people are here legally, God bless them, they should be eager to get a state-issued ID, because it's a benefit of citizenship.

And as was mentioned earlier in this debate by opponents of this amendment, there are sufficient measures in place to fight terrorist financing.

Mr. Chairman, I ask my colleagues to support the Department of Homeland Security, to secure our banking system, and to oppose this amendment.

[End Insert]

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT