Guest Column
Speaker Hastert's Opening Statement from the House Republican Border Security Forum
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Speaker's Press Office
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
September 12, 2006
(Washington, D.C.) Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) today issued the following statement at the Republican Policy Committee's Border Security Forum:
"On June 20th of this year - in the midst of a national and congressional debate about immigration enforcement and border security - I asked the chairmen of the several committees with jurisdiction over these issues to organize and conduct a series of field hearings during the House's district work period. In particular, I asked the Committee chairmen to examine the Democrats' so-called "Reid-Kennedy bill" passed by the Senate and to report back on its value as a basis for House action.
"To date, the Committees on Armed Services, House Administration, Education and the Workforce, Energy and Commerce, Government Reform, Homeland Security, Intelligence, International Relations, Judiciary, Resources, and Ways and Means have held no fewer than 25 hearings in 12 states across the country.
"We asked local officials, private citizens, and expert witnesses to testify on the issues of border and homeland security, America's widespread and intolerable vulnerability to illegal entry across our borders, past and current policy successes and failures, and how best to proceed with genuine reforms this fall.
"The need for such reforms should be obvious only a day removed from the fifth anniversary of September 11th, 2001, when 19 terrorists exploited - and at least six violated - our immigration laws to murder 3000 of our citizens. The war on terror and the porous state of our borders demand concrete action on behalf of homeland and national security. But this isn't just about grand schemes against us. Some of the illegals crossing our borders are gang members who cross to injure our citizens. This is a daily struggle in some towns.
"Before taking action, we wanted to gather all the evidence we could, and craft legislation based on the conclusions drawn from that evidence. As we will soon hear, the evidence collected over the course of this summer's field hearings raise bracing questions about the Reid-Kennedy approach. The more we studied the Democrats' bill, the more holes we found, and the more it appears to be modeled on the disastrous 1986 law that has produced the current border-security crisis.
"In addition, we didn't hear concrete proposals from the Democrats on how to address America's border security crisis. In fact, the Democrat Leadership voted against the House passed border security bill and the REAL ID Act last year. I have also not heard of any Democrat leaders who went down to visit the border as many of us have done to get a first-hand look at our border security needs.
"The state of our borders is a security crisis. This is an emergency that Congress must address before November. The American people want - and as you will hear, the evidence demands - immediate, targeted legislation specifically designed to secure the border, protect our homeland, and vigorously enforce our immigration laws. Such legislation could - and more importantly should - pass the House this fall and hopefully the Senate as well.
"It is my hope that members of both houses will build on these hearings to help us write and pass a border security package that meets our nation's immediate need for border security and immigration enforcement. I want to thank the Policy Committee for hosting today's forum. And I want to thank all the committees and chairmen for their hard work over the summer listening to the American people and acting on their behalf."
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