Posted on 05/20/2010 3:40:18 PM PDT by calif_reaganite
Response to President Calderon
House Chamber, Washington, D.C.
May 20, 2010
M. Speaker:
I rise to take strong exception to the speech of the President of Mexico while in this chamber today.
The Mexican government has made it very clear for many years that it holds American sovereignty in contempt and President Calderon’s behavior as a guest of the Congress confirms and underscores this attitude.
It is highly inappropriate for the President of Mexico to lecture Americans on American immigration policy, just as it would be for Americans to lecture Mexico on its laws.
It is obvious that President Calderon does not understand the nature of America or the purpose of our immigration law.
Unlike Mexico’s immigration law -- which is brutally exclusionary -- the purpose of America’s law is not to keep people out. It is to assure that as people come to the United States, they do so with the intention of becoming Americans and of raising their children as Americans.
Unlike Mexico, our nation embraces immigration and what makes that possible is assimilation.
A century ago President Teddy Roosevelt put it this way. He said:
"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language ... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."
That is how we have built one great nation from the people of all the nations of the world.
The largest group of immigrants now comes from Mexico. A recent RAND discovered that during most of the 20th Century, while our immigration laws were actually enforced, assimilation worked and made possible the swift attainment of the American dream for millions of immigrants seeking to escape conditions in Mexico.
That is the broader meaning of our nation’s motto, “e pluribus unum” – from many people, one people, the American people.
But there is now an element in our political structure that seeks to undermine that concept of “E Pluribus Unum.” It seeks to hyphenate Americans, to develop linguistic divisions, to assign rights and preferences based on race and ethnicity, and to elevate devotion to foreign ideologies and traditions, while at the same time denigrating American culture, American values and American founding principles.
In order to do so, they know that they have to stop the process of assimilation. In order to do that, they must undermine our immigration laws.
It is an outrage that a foreign head of state would appear in this chamber and actively seek to do so. And it is a disgrace that he would be cheered on from the left wing of the White House and by many Democrats in this Congress.
Arizona has not adopted a new immigration law. All it has done is to enforce existing law that President Obama refuses to enforce. It is hardly a radical policy to suggest that if an officer on a routine traffic stop encounters a driver with no driver’s license, no passport, and who doesn’t speak English, that maybe that individual might be here illegally.
And to those who say we must reform our immigration laws – I reply that we don’t need to reform them – we need to enforce them. Just as every other government does. Just as Mexico does.
Above all, this is a debate of, by and for the American people. If President Calderon wishes to participate in that debate, I invite him to obey our immigration laws, apply for citizenship, do what 600,000 LEGAL immigrants to our nation are doing right now, learn our history and our customs, and become an American. And then he will have every right to participate in that debate.
Until then, I would politely invite him to have the courtesy while a guest of this Congress to abide by the fundamental rules of diplomacy between civilized nations not to meddle in each other’s domestic debates.
After this crap from the south of the boder socialist the numbers of Americans that support Arizona will climb to 80%.Just watch.
I’m a Beck fan too. But I take his history with a grain of salt. Of course, he just discovered the idea about learning about our nations history. I’ve been at it for 40 years.
Thank you Tom!!! Not all Californians are Liberal morons like Pelosi, Feinstein, and Boxer.
Right on!!!
“Seriously, who does this guy think he is...”
And he got applauded by the Dems. in Congress. I think Congress should write up a paper censuring Calderon for his pompous diatribe...and every one in Congress who agrees should sign it and send it to him. Everyone who doesn’t sign it, we’ll remember in November.
He could have kept it short and sweet and just said STFU
http://mcclintock.house.gov/
A superb slap down. Barry0 was obviously a secondary target.
I said for years that McClintock was wasted in Sacramento, and he was worthy of a bigger stage.
I am glad to see him find his bigger stage.
Now I’ll say again. He is wasted where he is. He needs a bigger stage yet.
His patriotism wasnt' the problem. The problem was that he was a big fat statist bastard.
Needs to be repeated!!
Too bad he didn't kick Arnie's butt off the Gay State Bridge!
This needs to be sent to Rush so he can play it tomorrow on his show.
On behalf of the Austin City Council and the Great State of Texas,
THANK YOU
During his 2 year association with the Bull Moose Party. Otherwise, no.
TR was a patriot down to his toes.I'm a Glenn Beck fan too, I guess I missed the one where he said TR wasn't a patriot. Does a favorable speech on legal immigration make you a patriot now?
Bush, like Obama, turned a blind eye to illegal immigration. He was/is for amnesty. He also chastised California voters for voting to cut off funding to illegals. Much to the dismay of many here at FR Californians are still american citizens. Are you saying Bush isn't a patriot?
Beck has no idea what he’s talking about when he talks about Roosevelt.
And a tool of JP Morgan.
Not at all. My wife and I had dinner with Tom in Santa Clarita on our last night - we then moved down to Orange County.
Great guy.
I’ve read some of his other speeches. He seems to be one less than a handful of politicians in America today who actually understands what the average working person does on a daily basis. He doesn’t treat us as masses or lab rats or children, but as responsible adults trying to live our lives.
LOL. Yeah, right.
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