Dana Rohrabacher: “the requirement, or the mandate, that local school districts provide education for illegal aliens just as they provide…”

“the requirement, or the mandate, that local school districts provide education for illegal aliens just as they provide education for legal residents and U.S. citizens was dictated by Pyler versus Doe. However a reading of Pyler versus Doe, which was only a 5-to-4 decision in a court that was much more liberal than it is today, a reading of that decision makes very clear that the States are not mandated if the Federal Government sets a policy. What I am attempting to do today and with the amendments which I will offer on other bills in the future is for us to state the policy, which is what the justices of the Supreme Court asked us to do, in terms of whether or not benefits should be made available or be mandated for States to be made available to illegal immigrants. If we indeed pass resolutions and amendments like the one I am suggesting today, it complies with what the Supreme Court suggested was necessary, for us to take the mandate off of the local government and the local schools. In other words, Madam Chairman, when we are talking about mandated education costing billions of dollars, that is not mandated if the Congress acts. It is very clear in that Supreme Court decision. So, those on the other side of the aisle who are suggesting that the mandate will be held if we indeed set the policy are wrong. In fact, we are talking about saving the taxpayers billions of dollars by eliminating that mandate on our local schools and our States.”