Weldon Speaks at Press Conference to Promote Illegal Immigration Reforms

Washington, Oct 24 - Citing his recent votes to secure our porous borders and stop the flood of illegal immigrants, a non-partisan advocacy group, the U.S. Border Control, has named U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon, M.D. (R-FL) to its U.S. Border Control Hall of Fame for the 109th Congress. The announcement today comes as President Bush is expected this week to sign the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which authorizes the construction of a 700-mile security fence along our porous southern border.  

“Border security is national security,” said Weldon, who scored a 100% on U.S. Border Control’s scorecard and was one of only 125 members of Congress to receive the honor.  “Thanks to a Republican majority in the House, we’ve made significant progress in making our borders more secure, protecting the American people from terrorists, drug dealers, criminal gangs, and rampant illegal immigration. But we still have more work to do. I’m honored to receive today’s recognition and will continue to push for laws that make our country safer and more secure.”
    
Since coming to Congress in 1995, Weldon has been leading the charge to address the problem of illegal immigration.  In the mid-90s, he was a founding member of the House Border Control Caucus, which was instrumental in pressuring the federal government to quadruple the number of border patrol agents along our southern border. Weldon currently serves on the Immigration Reform Caucus.

The U.S. Border Control rated Members of Congress based upon 12 key border security votes in the 109th Congress.  In addition to Weldon, six other Florida lawmakers received 100%, including Cliff Stearns, John Mica, Connie Mack, Tom Feeney, Jeff Miller, and Mike Bilirakis.  Interestingly, Democrat House leaders Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Steny Hoyer (D-MD), who have consistently obstructed efforts to secure our borders, received a score of zero from the U.S. Border Control.