Gekas seeks curbs to legal immigrants

Washington Times ^ | 6/27/02 | Stephen Dinan

[kattracks]

A key House Republican introduced legislation yesterday to temporarily cut legal immigration to the United States by about 20 percent as part of a broad reform of immigration laws.

Rep. George W. Gekas, Pennsylvania Republican, the chairman of the immigration subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, said government agencies need time to restructure and to catch up with the current backlog of applications.

[I_Love_My_Husband]

Brave man! What a great guy! Wish he were MY representative. *Sigh* we have such a HUGE problem here in California.

[dougherty]

Well, this guy gets an A+. I wish him the best of luck, he'll need it with the zombies and panderers he works alongside.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

.

[truth_seeker]

Mr. Gekas said immigration is no longer just a law-and-order issue, it's now a matter of national security.
"Members of Congress and the public at large recognize that our open society we're so proud of is, because it is so open, endangering itself," Mr. Gekas said.
As chairman of the immigration subcommittee, Mr. Gekas has a platform for starting the public debate on reform, though how far the bill can go this year is uncertain.

Every Republican candidate for House and Senate should make this bill/proposal a major issue, in their campaigns. Polls since 9/11/02 reveal a big majority of Americans are troubled by immigration, for obvious reasons.

It is a winning issue. (One could expect the dems to come up with a counter-proposal, but it would be a weaker position.) The Republicans CAN take the Senate and hold the House, by making immigration REDUCTION/reform a national security issue.

[brat]

THANKYOU Rep. Gekas!

[grania]

Doesn't that bring the grand total to two (Gekas and Tancredo) in the House of Representatives?

[grania]

Do you have any insight about this guy?

[madfly]

This is what I found for him yesterday, On www.NumbersUSA.com

Rep. George Gekas PA
SAFER act of 2002 H.R. 5013

Chair of the HOUSE IMMIGRATION SUBCOMMITTEE

SUSTAINABLE FUTURE, LESS POPULATION GROWTH, SPRAWL AND CONGESTION. ???

-----------------------------------------------

SOUNDS LIKE AGENDA 21 to me. Discernment alert.

Aymore info on the SAFER ACT?

[madfly]

ping

[Reaganwuzthebest]

Thanks for the ping madfly.

This is great legislation and one reason why the Republicans MUST remain the majority in Congress. There are the RINO's, including in my state, but the best hope for immigration reform is still with the conservatives.

Mr. Gekas deserves support on this from his colleagues because it's what the vast majority of people want and it's in the nation's interest. We need a break from mass immigration.

[CIBvet]

What a breath of fresh air!

I will certainly contact my Congressman and ask him to sign on as a co-sponser.

[Regulator]

The funny thing about this legislation is that it is just a reiteration of the recommendations from the late Congresswoman from Texas, Barbara Jordan, who was an order of magnitude more intelligent than the intellectual lightweight Sheila Jackson-Lee.

Gekas is a good guy who is carefully trying to do the right thing in the face of hostility from the president. He and Tancredo may only be two guys, but they have the rank and file of the Republican party AND many old line Democrats on their side (which is why immigration reduction is popular in Pennsylvania, a place that isn't intrinsically "Republican").

[skeeter]

It is a winning issue. (One could expect the dems to come up with a counter-proposal, but it would be a weaker position.) The Republicans CAN take the Senate and hold the House, by making immigration REDUCTION/reform a national security issue.

Agreed. Its obvious that reforming immigration is something a significant majority privately feels very strongly about, but have been mau-maued into keeping quiet about it.

Given half a chance Americans will jump behind any meaningful & attainable reform in a heartbeat.

[Brownie74]

This is what Barbara Jordan had to say about it:

"Immigration is not a right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution to everyone and anyone in the world who wishes to come to the United States. It is a privilege granted by the people of the United States to those whom we choose to admit."

"It's time for the American people to reassert their democratic right to control their fate."

"Immigration policy is national destiny."

A former Democratic congresswoman, the late Barbara Jordan of Texas (who chaired a presidential immigration commission in the 1990s), put the matter in the proper context.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

I see your Congressman Pete Sessions?? is one of the sponsors. He's a good man, sure wish we a few like him in NY. Fact is, everyone up here like Peter King is a RINO and I'm not sure how they'd vote if and when this bill comes to the floor. Bush will most likely oppose it and pressure them to as well. But at least something is finally moving on this issue. Lots of good things in this legislation.

[Regulator]

I've seen King on TV advocating immigration reduction, especially from the mid east. He seemed too hesitant to defend himself when attacked, so I understand your RINO comment. Still, if he could be stiffened a bit by some grass roots support, he seems to be on the side of immigration reduction.

Call him up and tell him to get a spine.

[Brownie74]

Yeah, I am in Texas 5th - Pete Sessions. He is a good guy and has an A+ voting record on immigration according to Numbers USA.

I have letters from Kay Bailey Hutchinson and Phil Gramm (retiring) saying that they oppose amnesty but both favor guest worker programs. Why do we need a guest worker program when we already have about 8 million illegals over here standing around on street corners looking for work? Oh well!!

[Reaganwuzthebest]

Believe it or not, recently I did hear King mention that he would restrict immigration from Middle Eastern countries. The Washington Times report card gave him an "F" for controlling illegal immigration, but maybe he and others like him in the Republican party will come around if there's enough pressure put on. Immigration as an issue isn't going away, it's only going to grow, so now's the time for Congress to act on it. It's a winning issue for them politically.

[Regulator]

It's a winning issue for them politically

I think everyone except RoveBush is recognizing that. Yesterday on GOPUSA there was a detailed poll about Tancredo's Troops to the Border demand. Previously they have tried to bury immigration reform demands. But the reality of the overwhelming opinion out here is too much to ignore, so now it seems that the leadership is trying to gauge what the underlying concern really is, and to possibly use it.

We should do all we can to convince them that they are on to something they can't ignore.