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.
McClintock bump!
“In his remarks Thursday, Calderon said he is “convinced comprehensive immigration reform is crucial to securing our border.”
-———comprehensive immigration reform for whom??..He needs to worry about his federales getting gunned down by drug lords before he wonders about how we adopt “reform.”
“But I strongly disagree with the recently adopted law in Arizona,” he said. “It’s a law that not only ignores reality, but also introduces racial profiling as a basis for law enforcement.”
———— “President Calderon, I rise to state I strongly disagree with your ability to run your nation. You allow illegals cross to take our labor wages, and other than convenience-store grocery shopping, all the money goes back to Mexico. Your laws not only ignores reality, but also introduces pure disregard for U.S. laws as a basis for Mexican economy.’ And the only racial profiling going on between our two countries is when your police shakedown our U.S. tourists in Cozumel.
“Calderon said his “government does not favor the breaking of the rules” and that he respects the right of any country to “enact and enforce its own laws.”
————— President Calderon, altho you state your so-called govt does not favor breaking “rules”,..we call them laws here,...your statements here today in our chamber shows that you do NOT respect the right of any country to ‘enact and enforce its own laws.’ If you did, then you would respect Arizona’s right to enact and enforce its own laws, and shut the **** up.
“But what we need today is to fix a broken and inefficient system,” he said. “We favor the establishment of laws that work and work well for all.”
———— President Calderon, what we need today is for YOU to go back down to your “borderless” country,..because frankly you could care less if people left or not,..and fix THAT broken system, and establish laws that......well,...establish laws and carry them out. Then people in the U.S. wouldn’t be so reactionary on immigration issues if we thought you had a clue. Pardon me sir, but what exactly HAS Mexico done to contribute to the Free World,..besides invent the Fajita?
to ad
all of them are straight A’s honor (honour , old southern English)roll, one has won the state champ in boxing, another plays for a team in soccer and another runs for cancer awareness when ever she can
these kids will be an asset tot he country, shame some who come here have their hands out instead
now why the hell should those illegals be given amnesty fro breaking the law when I did the immigration route the correct lawful way?
explain that lefty trolls
funny I can’t find the speech on YT yet....
He does? Anyone can pick a quote to make someone look like something they are not.
Thank you Mr. McClintock. Great speech. It needed to be said!
Tom McClintock is infinitely more qualified to be POTUS than the America-hating charlatan we must currently endure.
I take it you think regulatory powers in the Federal government citing the commerce clause are a good thing?
Refute the data; else you're just another partisan blowhard who doesn't get that both sides play this game. Teddy was effectively the early 20th Century version of Nixon. He instituted the USDA, the FDA, and selective trust busting, unconstitutional powers that have done little but favor big players over small. They are a large part of the predicament in which we find ourselves today. The funny thing is that the beneficiaries of this game give more money to Democrats than to Republicans.
I’m sorry you didn’t beat Arnold.
Ditto that, 100%!
Case law Megyn Kelly mentioned on Fox News
Federal Law tougher than Arizona SB1070
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=000&invol=03-1423
My what big balls you have...
Thank goodness someone is big enough to do the right thing!
Thank you Mr. McClintock!
Super!
Because tool sheds like Michael Medved called McClintock backers “Tombots”, and said you all had to get behind Arrhhnie or lose the election.
See post #95 — I’ve got a YouTube link for you. :)
This Arizonan thanks you from the bottom of my heart, Tom.
Wonderful letter - bravo.
Thanks./..notice I said “yet”..*smiles*...much better link to send all around.....
Ah yes, Rush Senor Wences
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