As you may know, yesterday the Senate voted to proceed with their debate on immigration reform legislation that would provide a path to citizenship for the 12 million illegal immigrants currently in our nation. I firmly oppose this bill, and was heartened to see that so many of my colleagues agree. In fact, yesterday, the House Republican Conference voted overwhelmingly (114 to 23) to pass a resolution opposing the Senate’s immigration bill.

House Republicans have made it clear that we will not waiver from our principles of reform.  Any legislation we enact must uphold the rule of law, secure our borders and benefit the American people and economy.  The Senate bill simply does not pass the test.  After examining the legislation and its 24 likely amendments, I can not foresee a responsible piece of legislation emerging which I could support. 

Immigration reform is a top priority for this Congress, but the only thing worse than inaction would be taking hasty action that does not truly address the problems of our current system.  In 1986, Congress passed a terrible amnesty bill that was hailed as the solution to our illegal immigration problem.  It only takes a quick glance around Georgia to realize the ’86 bill was a complete failure.  Our nation can not afford to repeat that mistake.

Should the Senate’s current bill make it to the House for a vote, you can be sure I will be one of the loudest voices in opposition to it. 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 27th, 2007 at 10:24 am and is filed under 11th Congressional District, Immigration and Border Security. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.