Tom Tancredo: “Mr. Speaker, I recognized when I brought this measure forward that would provide an opportunity for our friends on the…”

“Mr. Speaker, I recognized when I brought this measure forward that would provide an opportunity for our friends on the other side to discuss a variety of other issues not really attendant to this particular problem, not attendant to this particular bill. We can spend all of our time, and I know that, in debate on the myriad of issues that have been hashed and rehashed on this floor, debated, discussed, or raked over, but in fact we are talking about something here that is a very practical step that can be taken tomorrow. It does not need the overwhelming support of the Congress from a financial standpoint, it just simply needs to be passed into law and allowed to be implemented by the Secretary of Education, and we will have done something significant. It is meaningful. These are not just whimsical attempts to try to deal with this problem. Over 600 calls have come in in 1 year, a little over 1 year. Eighty of those calls were of a threatening nature. We do not know, because the system does not require a feedback, as to what kind of action was finally taken after the CBA sends the information to the local agency. But, anecdotally, we have heard that there have been three to four arrests that have been made as a result of the hotline; and, therefore, we can only speculate as to the possibility as to the number of people whose lives have either been saved or at least kept out of harm's way as a result of this.”