Posted on 03/10/2003 2:10:50 PM PST by HiJinx
Herald/Review
WASHINGTON -- In late February, a congressman from Colorado and another U.S. representative from Michigan visited Cochise County to gather information about the illegal activities occurring along the border with Mexico.
Both U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo and U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, who are Republicans, criticized some members of the Arizona congressional delegation for not taking actions to help their constituents in Cochise County.
U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, a Republican whose 8th Congressional District includes Cochise County, and U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., were specifically named by Tancredo as being lax on border issues.
Tancredo, who represents Colorado's 6th Congressional District, called the number of illegal immigrants coming into the United States through Cochise County "an invasion that can only be stopped by putting the U.S. military on the border."
Hoekstra, who represents Michigan's 2nd Congressional District, said the federal government is failing to enforce its own immigration laws, which is harming people who live in the United States along the border.
Two of Hoekstra's constituents are the parents of William Eggle, a National Park Service ranger who was killed last year by a Mexican at the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument near Sells. This week, Tancredo will be at a meeting in Sells where a House subcommittee will be looking into drug smuggling and other activities through National Park land.
Hoekstra said he finds it hard to believe that some in Arizona's congressional delegation do not seem to want to do anything about the state's border problems. If the state's representatives and senators in Washington, D.C., do not step up to the plate, it will be hard to convince other members of Congress to see the problem as a serious one, he added.
Tancredo was more direct, saying Kolbe and McCain do not have the respect of many people in Cochise County.
Kolbe is not really representing the people in Cochise County when it comes to illegal activities along the border, the Coloradan said.
As for McCain, "many people were not complimentary," Tancredo said of those he talked with during his recent trip to the area. He has made other trips to Cochise County in the past. At the Feb. 20 Lincoln Day Dinner held in Sierra Vista, Tancredo was introduced by U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., as an Arizona type of man who speaks the truth regardless of the consequences.
Responding to Tancredo's comments, Kolbe told the Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review, "Congressman Tancredo and I have different views on border issues. He represents a district in Colorado hundreds of miles from the border, while I represent a border district. I meet, listen to, talk with people who live along the border every week."
In a written statement, Kolbe added: "I understand, as apparently Congressman Tancredo does not, that these problems are complex, and require solutions that are well thought out and can gain the support of a majority in the entire Congress."
McCain did not respond to a request for a comment.
Tancredo said he stayed with a local border ranch family and talked with other ranchers and people about the impact the traffic of illegal immigrants and drugs are having on them.
"It is an invasion at our nation's expense," he said.
The United States should be more concerned about the problems with its borders where terrorists can infiltrate the United States instead of preparing for war with Iraq, Tancredo said.
Repeating an often used mantra by some that a nation that cannot protect its borders cannot call itself a sovereign country, the Coloradan said that what is happening in Cochise County, is a national tragedy.
"We (the federal government) are sacrificing the people in Cochise County on the altar of bad border policies," Tancredo said.
Republican and Democratic national leaders are at fault, he added.
"My party, the Republicans, are in it for the profit taking, as a way for cheap labor and profits for employers," Tancredo said.
Democrats turn their backs on the number of illegal immigrants as a way to have people join labor unions which then will support them on the national scene, he said.
The environment is also suffering from the impact of illegal immigration, Tancredo said. This impact can be seen in Cochise County with large amounts of trash left behind by people crossing into the United States who do not care about the pristine and fragile environment, as well as destroying private property, he said.
Hoekstra said he wonders where the environmentalists are and why they are not complaining about the destruction of the environment by illegal immigrants.
He also said there is too much talk about establishing another amnesty program, something he and Tancredo oppose.
Until other members of Congress see what is happening along the nation's southern border firsthand, they will not have a clear understanding that the illegal immigrants and drugs that come into the United States will eventual make it to their parts of the country where they will then learn the results of illegal activities.
"By then, it may be too late," Hoekstra said.
What they don't mention is that at the Lincoln Day Dinner, Tancredo was not a speaker, yet he received a louder, more sustained standing ovation than Sen. Kyl. He clearly was the favorite there. Also, not mentioned, is that Rep. Kolbe was not even invited to the Republican Party-sponsored event in his own district. He's not welcome here.
Tancredo was more direct, saying Kolbe and McCain do not have the respect of many people in Cochise County.
Kolbe is not really representing the people in Cochise County when it comes to illegal activities along the border, the Coloradan said.
We've told Tom Tancredo over and over again that he is our honorary congressional Representative here.
We make this fact loud and clear to Tancredo whenever he visits the area. We've seen him down here in Cochise County looking at the border situation more often than we've ever seen Kolbe. When Tancredo comes, he actually stays overnight in a rancher's or other local resident's home on the border. When Kolbe comes down he and his homo freak show (you'd have to see his local aides) zip into town in their van and zip right out. The last time Kolbe came to look at the border, his van drove him to the border station where he and his entourage jumped into Border Patrol helicopters and he did a quick tour from the air. Tancredo walks and drives on the border when he comes down here.
As for McCain, "many people were not complimentary," Tancredo said of those he talked with during his recent trip to the area.
This is certainly an understatement. In Cochise County we're just as hostile to McCain as we are to Kolbe. He wasn't invited either.
Responding to Tancredo's comments, Kolbe told the Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review, "Congressman Tancredo and I have different views on border issues. He represents a district in Colorado hundreds of miles from the border, while I represent a border district. I meet, listen to, talk with people who live along the border every week."
In a written statement, Kolbe added: "I understand, as apparently Congressman Tancredo does not, that these problems are complex, and require solutions that are well thought out and can gain the support of a majority in the entire Congress."
They don't mention that Kolbe also said, "I am at the polar opposite of what Tom Tancredo and that so-called caucus is all about", the day that Tancredo was in town. Tancredo was distressed by this since Kolbe had just addressed Tom's "so-called" immigration reform caucus which has 60 members to try to get them to support one of Kolbe's stupid bills. He knows damn well what the Immigration Reform Caucus is about and how many members it holds. I got this firsthand from Tancredo when talking to him before the dinner when I asked him for his reaction to Kolbe's comments.
Tancredo said he stayed with a local border ranch family and talked with other ranchers and people about the impact the traffic of illegal immigrants and drugs are having on them.
This is how Tancredo gets to know the real border issues and how it effects the people down here. Not this last time, but the time he came down here before that he stayed at the home of my club's secretary (she was the VP back then).
That depends on your definition of bad guys. If you're refering to people's intentions then your point may be valid.
If however you meant the actual, consequences of people's well intended actions then you're at the wrong boader.
The irony is that the intentions of the unregulated immigrants along our southern boarders are destroying the very dream they seek. Yes their immediate personal circumstances are better but their presence is destroying the economic dream that they pray their children and grandchildren achieve.
As an example, California would have a small surplus today if the children, grand children and great grand children of these unregulated immigrants were not resident in California today. They represent almost 30% of the demand on the social saftey net in California and the social saftey net (health, education and welfare) represent 70% of the Californai budget.
I take it you speak fluent Spanish.
That talk comes mostly from Pom Bancredo's supporters and liberals.
Bush envy.
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