Posted on 12/02/2004 1:27:19 AM PST by ETERNAL WARMING
Thursday, Dec. 2, 2004 12:31 a.m. EST 9/11 Families Back Sensenbrenner in Intel Fight
Leaders of a group representing more than 300 family members of 9/11 victims urged Congress on Tuesday to scrap the intelligence reform bill because it doesn't include key provisions to secure the nation's borders against terrorist infiltration - the same objection raised by one of the bill's leading opponents, Wisconsin Sen. James Sensenbrenner.
"No bill should pass the Senate, the House, anywhere, unless it contains immigration reform," said Joan Molinaro, the mother of a New York City firefighter killed on September 11 and a member of the group "9/11 Families for a Secure America."
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Holding up a picture of her son and then a picture of her two daughters, Molinaro testified: "You allowed the murder of my son. I will not allow you to kill my daughters."
In quotes picked up by the Washington Times, she added, "You secure our borders, you keep my girls alive."
Debra Burlingame, a spokeswoman for the group whose brother Charles piloted the jet that struck the Pentagon, said Wednesday that border enforcement is key to any intelligence reform bill.
Explaining her opposition to the bill, Burlingame told WWRL Radio's Steve Malzberg and Karen Hunter that the immigration provisions were opposed by special interests in Washington.
"The agricultural and construction businesses who employ [illegal aliens] have big lobbies in Washington," Burlingame said. "You have the banks, who get billions of dollars from illegal aliens because they use banks to wire money back home."
"The biggest contributor of all are the immigration lawyers, whose entire income stream is derived from getting illegal aliens here and keeping them here," she said.
Molinaro, Burlingame and other 9/11 familles who back Sensenbrenner's efforts have been largely ignored by the media, which has focused instead on other victim families aligned with 9/11 Commission Chairman Tom Kean, who strongly backs the bill.
But Burlingame blasted Chairman Kean on Tuesday, saying he was wrong when he insisted that tighter border controls wouldn't have stopped the 9/11 hijackers. "He should read his own report," she said.
9/11 Families for a Secure America plans to launch a radio ad campaign praising key congressional Republicans for opposing the flawed intelligence bill.
Pretty impressive. More and more common sense on one side only.
I'd vote for Sensenbrenner and Tancredo in a heartbeat, as they're the only GOPers with any brass. The rest of them don't deserve the time of day...
http://www.detnews.com/2002/nation/0209/27/nation-599018.htm
This is experience was every bit as devastating to the people in a small town like Norfolk, where everyone knows everyone else, as 9/11 was to New York. Every day in this country, we have thousands of these little "9/11s." The difference between these occurrences and the September 11th attacks is that our Federal government just doesn't seem to care if these attacks continue. In fact, the government is trying to do everything it can to ensure that these attacks do continue.
Our own U.S. Senator, Chuck Hagel, has such a lax attitude towards illegal immigration that you'd swear he wants to turn Kansas into a border state.
It's time to end this schizophrenic policy of saying you want to secure the nation but keep our borders wide open to anyone once and for all.
I have a lot of respect and sympathy for all of the families who have lost loved ones to the islamofascists on 9/11, before and since.
However, these 9/11 families have become political action committees.
I don't believe the 9/11 families should be given special political clout.
The 9/11 Commission Report is available here:
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/
Or at your bookstore for $10.00.
Sorry I was not more clear, I was speaking about the legislation in question.
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