Border security and No Amnesty
The debate over illegal immigration has inflamed passions across the Nation. I have been, and continue to be, a strong and vocal advocate for tougher border security. I firmly believe that first and foremost we must stop the flood of humans and contraband flowing into our country, and we should deploy whatever means are necessary - drones, fences, high technology surveillance and increased border agents - to accomplish this vital national security task.
The next problem we must deal with is what to do with the estimated 12 to 18 million illegal aliens already in this country. A multitude of potential solutions have been proposed by my colleagues in the House and Senate. Let me be absolutely clear; I do not support amnesty. Amnesty only rewards people for breaking our laws and encourages others to do the same. We tried amnesty during the 1980s when we passed the Simpson-Mazzoli Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (which I voted against) when we only had an estimated 3 million illegal aliens in this country. It was a complete failure. Amnesty does not work.
The United States of America is the most open society in history, and the cornerstone of our great Nation is - and probably always will be - our diversity. I think there is little doubt that legal immigrants - those who have played by the rules and waited their turn in line - have made significant contributions that strengthen and enrich the fabric of our American society. But the common thread binding all of these diverse individuals into one coherent society has been the English language. In recent years we have forgotten this simple truth and tried to adopt the language of other cultures as well as English. The end result has produced even greater difficulties and skyrocketing costs just to communicate with each other.
Furthermore, this drive toward multilingualism has only fractured our society into ethnic groups and inflamed ethnic tensions. That is why I firmly believe that English should be our national language, and that anyone who wants to become a United States citizen must first learn and understand English, our Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Social Security Benefits for Americans Only
As you know, immigrants play an important role in our society, as America's diverse ethnic backgrounds are a fundamental source of our national strength and growth. This country was built on immigration, and immigrants have been - and continue to be - the backbone of our nation. However, one of the most common misperceptions about today's immigration debate is that illegal aliens are "immigrants." In reality, they are not and in the opinion of many Americans referring to illegal aliens as "immigrants" demeans the struggle so many true immigrants had to endure in order to come to this county legally. These kinds of word games only serve to muddy and politicize the legitimate issue of immigration. If we want a balanced national policy on immigration that upholds our law though, facts must prevail over emotions.
I believe our immigration policies sorely need to be upgraded, but at the same time, that does not excuse the thousands upon thousands of illegal aliens who break our laws every single day. Especially in our post-9/11 world where terrorists are looking to exploit any weakness to strike at the heart of America, we cannot continue to allow illegal immigration to go unchecked. We need to more tightly control our borders so that we know who is trying to enter our country; and we need to create disincentives that discourage people from trying to sneak across our borders illegally.
For example, by giving social services to illegal immigrants, we are implicitly condoning their illegal activity and undermining the efforts and commitment of immigrants who choose to respect and abide by our laws, and enter America the legal way. We need to be clear that there is a right way to come to our country, and ideally only when someone goes through the proper channels should they be recognized and helped.
On January 4, 2007, Representative Ron Paul of Texas introduced the "Social Security for Americans Only Act of 2007" (H.R. 190). This bill, of which I am a cosponsor, would amend the Social Security Act to prohibit people who are not citizens or nationals of the United States from being credited for coverage under the Social Security program. In addition, the bill ends the practice of totalization; where the Social Security Administration takes into account the number of year's an individual worked abroad, and thus was not paying payroll taxes, in determining that individual's eligibility for Social Security benefits.