Brian Bilbray: “If I may reclaim my time. I think the one thing we don't talk about enough in this country is that there is this…”

“If I may reclaim my time. I think the one thing we don't talk about enough in this country is that there is this perception that we don't allow very much legal immigration inside. The United States today, Mr. Speaker, accepts more legal immigration than all the rest of the world combined. We are accepting more legal immigration today than at any other time in the history of our Republic. This country is one of the most gracious and welcoming countries, the most welcoming country in the history of the world. And so we have nothing to apologize for when it comes to accommodating, except for the fact that we made a terrible mistake in 1986. When you were talking about the definition of amnesty, it actually comes from the Latin word for amnesia. And maybe what the Senate is forgetting in having this amnesia is what happened the last time they proposed this type of amnesty. Einstein said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Let's just look at what happened when Mr. Kennedy, who promised in 1986 this would be the last amnesty that America would ever have, clearly stated, 'It will never happen again.' Twenty years ago, we tried this experiment of rewarding illegal immigration. We were promised that it was only going to be 1 million illegals that were given amnesty. It turned out it was 3 million. Now, 20 years later, rather than having 3 illegals in our country we have 12 to 20.”