Hilda L. Solis: “what an interesting debate to talk about welfare when I know we are really trying to talk about hunger and poverty and…”

“what an interesting debate to talk about welfare when I know we are really trying to talk about hunger and poverty and children and the fact that legal immigrant children should not be treated differently just because maybe they speak a different language. Maybe they have parents from another country. Maybe they even have parents who are serving this country in the military. Some of those very parents represent children in my district. They are serving us right now proudly in Afghanistan and my colleagues are telling them that they cannot have food on the table, that they are not going to get a meal even though their dad or mom is probably out there serving our country on a 24-hour watch. That is what we are talking about. The face of these children is not someone who just came over the border, and let me further say that some of these immigrant families, a majority happen to be children. They are not all on welfare. Many of them just lost their jobs. Believe it or not, there is a recession that is going on; and in our districts where unemployment is up to 9 and 10 percent, there are people who are very hungry. They are not looking necessarily for a free handout. They are going to have to be here for 4 years and work. They are going to have to be here to prove themselves worthy of this kind of assistance that our great country should make available.…”