Posted on 07/23/2006 7:40:16 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
EL PASO — House Speaker Dennis Hastert finished a two-day visit to the U.S. border Saturday with a tour of a port of entry in El Paso and repeated calls for security reforms to protect the border. Hastert, R-Ill., said he made the trip to determine what resources were needed to secure the border and stop illegal immigration. On Friday, he and several other members of Congress made three stops in Arizona, a hotspot for illegal immigration, and saw National Guard troops building fences near the border as part of President Bush’s Operation Jump Start.
Speaking for the group, which included Reps. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., and Bobby Rush, an Illinois Democrat, Hastert said Saturday that securing the border must be the focus of any immigration legislation.
Hastert’s visit comes amid the ongoing and contentious national debate about the future of U.S. immigration policy that has prompted mass protests around the country.
Both the House and Senate have passed immigration reform bills, but a compromise bill for the president’s approval has not been worked out.
Hastert said he would only support legislation that focuses first on security and does not give illegal immigrants amnesty.
“We have to protect America,” Hastert said. “We don’t think the Senate bill … is the right thing to do.”
The House bill, HR 4437, which passed in December, is focused on enforcement and does not address a guest worker program or a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants already in the United States.
The Senate bill, passed earlier this year, does include a guest worker program and other reforms, some of which have been billed as amnesty by opponents.
Hastert’s border visit was criticized by U.S. Reps. Silvestre Reyes and Charlie Gonzalez, both Texas Democrats who were part of the delegation.
In statements released by Reyes and Gonzalez, both congressmen said the tour was more about politics than achieving substantive reform.
“We always like to have members visit El Paso, but we’d much rather have them working back in Washington, D.C.,” Reyes said in his statement. “And if the Republican leadership is so concerned about border security, I really wonder why they didn’t make this trip before the House considered HR 4437, and why they aren’t appointing conferees to craft a final bill with the Senate.”
Same as usual, blowing hot air to get re-elected.
Hastert may be the only thing keeping Bush-Kennedy from getting their way with amnesty. He makes me nervous and I do not trust him. Frist could have and should have stood up and obstructed the Senate Bill from coming to a vote where the treacherous Rinos could unite with the treacherous Democrats to give Bush what he asked for and that which I have to believe the majority of Americans are against.
Democrats love the invasion, as the illegals have become addicted to welfare, and will vote for the socialist Democrats. Somw will vote several times, as many have several different ID's.
| Hastert: 'Zero' entry by migrants -- Group of mostly GOP lawmakers tours border |
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| Posted by axes_of_weezles On News/Activism 07/22/2006 12:00:16 PM CDT · 20 replies · 272+ views ARIZONA DAILY STAR, Tucson, Arizona ^ | 22 July 2006 | Josh Brodesky Tucson Region Hastert: 'Zero' entry by migrants Group of mostly GOP lawmakers tours border By Josh Brodesky ARIZONA DAILY STAR Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.22.2006 advertisement NOGALES, Ariz. — Saying there needed to be "zero penetration" into the United States by illegal entrants, House Speaker Dennis Hastert got a look Friday at the challenges faced by those trying to secure the southern border. The Illinois Republican and a handful of other lawmakers, including Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe, from Southern Arizona, are visiting the border with Mexico. On Friday, the group took a daylong tour in Arizona, including an afternoon... |
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Yeah, sadly they are becoming indistinguishable from one another.
The DNC has no agenda for the border and the illegals still coming over the border in droves. If they had one, they would be out there saying so because it just happens to be an issue that most of America are worried about. To date no issue put forth seems right. Hasart was on the Wallace show this a.m. and said in his next few weeks, he would be there to try and come up more workable ideas.
In the end illegal immigration robs us all of OUR rights under the Constitution. Our Constitution was designed to give us, the "peons and peasants" power over their lives. Illegal immigration creates a "disposable" human, with net costs shuttled off onto the backs of the middle class, under the table and off the books. It "benefits" ONLY the King's men.
Amen!
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