Jeremiah Smith: “I have never been involved in an issue that has gotten to my heart more than the Elian Gonzalez case--never. Last night…”

“I have never been involved in an issue that has gotten to my heart more than the Elian Gonzalez case--never. Last night, on the Geraldo Rivera show, a poll was shown saying 61 percent of the American people said Elian Gonzalez should go back to his father, and 28 percent of them said he should stay here in America. Here is this little boy who floated in the ocean on an innertube after his mother died trying to bring him to America. So we are now going to conduct policy about what to do about Elian by reading polls. Where is the leadership in this country when we need it? This is not about polls. I don't care what the polls are. I could care less what the polls are. If Lincoln had taken a poll on slavery, we would probably still have slavery because the majority of the people in America at that time supported slavery. But he didn't take a poll or put his finger to the wind. He did what was right. Again, I plead with my colleagues in the Senate to grant Elian Gonzalez and his family permanent residency status so this issue can be handled by a Florida custody court. This should not be an immigration matter.”