Dr. Martin Luther King said something that occurs to me in a very profound way. He said our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that really matter.

I think there are a lot of things being discussed here today that really aren't relevant to the big picture.

And as far as I can see there's no prospect that people that haven't committed felonies or people that haven't committed these three serious mysterious misdemeanors, there's no prospect that those that came here after December 31st, 2011…

I think the wise choice to do is to preserve that flexibility and to keep those options open.

That except for certain felons or those mysterious combinations of three misdemeanors, those are the exceptions in the bill for those that are unlawfully present in the United States.

Milton Friedman said you cannot coexist with an open-borders policy and a cradle-to-grave welfare state.

I will tell you that I don't believe Barack Obama would be president today if Ronald Reagan hadn't made the most colossal mistake of his career in signing the 1986 amnesty act.

Reclaiming my time, I appreciate the gentleman from South Carolina bringing this up. I, too, have spent a respectable amount of time on the border. I've gone down there and sat at night next to the border fence--no lights, no night-vision…

Reclaiming my time, I appreciate the gentleman from South Carolina coming here and delivering a perspective on the rule of law that we need so badly. I am a bit flabbergasted by the lack of the ability to reason by some of my colleagues…

I came to this floor, however, to address the situation of immigration and particularly illegal immigration. The first thing is that the people that have advocated for open borders have, for years now, worked to conflate the two terms…

I have a couple of random things to clean up on before I get to the topic that I came here to discuss. But I can't resist bringing up a resolution that emerged in my attention today, H. Con. Res. 36. It's a concurrent resolution. It is…

It's my privilege to be recognized to address you here on the floor of the House of Representatives. And listening to the gentlelady from the District of Columbia, of course, a different opinion comes to mind, and that would be that…

I thank the gentleman for yielding. And as I listen to the gentlelady talk about enhanced background checks, it just occurs to me, Mr. Speaker, that if we repeal ObamaCare, we can save more lives by bringing real health care reform to this…

it is hard for me to get to the point where I can except that with a promise of enforcement of immigration law, we would actually get enforcement, since I have been watching this since 1986 and am disappointed with every Administration…

I haven't found anything that I won't do, or anything I can't get my sons to do.

There are an awful lot of Americans that are naturalized, native-born Americans that are out there in the cold and the wind and the heat in the ditch doing this work every single day.

Milton Friedman said clearly that the--an open borders program and a cradle-to-grave welfare system cannot coexist.

I want to thank the witnesses for your testimony here today.

But does that absolve the perpetrators of $4.4 or more billion worth of discrimination? Are they not still out there?

if you cannot find a place to put the money, maybe there was not a level of discrimination to the level that was originally claimed if there are not enough claimants?

You have continued what is allowing the Mexican cartels power, and the power to make money, ruin Mexico, and hurt our country, by having a prohibition in the late 20th and 21st century.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. General Holder, I thank you for your testimony here today, and I have a number of curiosities remaining.

It's my privilege to be recognized to address you here on the floor of the United States of House of Representatives. And I know that there's issue after issue that comes before this Congress; some calculate those issues in the thousands…

I appreciate the privilege to address you here on the floor of the House of Representatives and also the times that I've had to be here on the floor and listen to the dialogue and the debate that's delivered by Members of both sides, the…

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the privilege of being recognized here on the floor of the United States House of Representatives and taking up the subject matter that I understand is going to begin this week with a markup in the…