Democrats and Republicans Working Together to Protect America

DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS WORKING TOGETHER TO PROTECT AMERICA -- (House of Representatives - July 11, 2006)

(Mr. BILBRAY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)

Mr. BILBRAY. 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?

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