Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. It’s a lesson that history teachers like to drill into their students. However, in Congress, bad ideas are rarely subjected to a historical review.

In 1986, the United States had roughly 2.9 million illegal immigrants. At the time, Members of Congress, Senators and yes, even President Ronald Reagan believed that the answer to the problem was amnesty. They argued that we couldn’t deport all of those illegal aliens and, besides, we will secure the border so no one else will be able to get in. These arguments are still being used today.

Amnesty though failed to solve the problem. Today, we have between 12 and 20 million illegal immigrants in this country. No one knows the exact number because we have no idea who they are or where they are.

In 1986, we did not secure the border and amnesty did not work. Instead amnesty sent the message that the United States was not concerned about who was legally or illegally in this country. I am determined that we not make that same mistake again.

We need to enforce our laws that already on the books. If we don’t, it will once again send the message that we are not serious about our own laws. Not only does it send the wrong message, but it doesn’t work.

I will remain vigilant and oppose amnesty every time it’s proposed. We should learn the lesson from history that amnesty is not the answer.