On the recordDecember 8, 2010
I rise in opposition to this rule and the bill, H.R. 5281. I agree with some of the presenters before me. It is not a DREAM Act. It's a nightmare act. It's one of those pieces of legislation that if the proponents actually understood the components of it, some of them would peel off, some of them would change their mind, and some of them would wish they could but they're on record and can't. The nightmare act is amnesty. Now, we need to come to an agreement on what amnesty is. I have long said that to grant amnesty is to pardon immigration lawbreakers and reward them with the objective of their crime. This legislation seeks to reward those who are, under the law, eligible for being sent back to their home countries. Now, it's everybody that says they came in on the day of their birth until the last day before they turned 16, but we don't have any way of verifying this. The certification and the background checks are completely impossible.
