Jeff Duncan: “as we wrap up the 104th Congress, there are three unrelated things which have come up this week which I would like to…”

“as we wrap up the 104th Congress, there are three unrelated things which have come up this week which I would like to mention, all of which touch on important political issues. First, just yesterday this House overwhelmingly passed by a 3 to 1, 75 percent margin, a bill attempting to crack down on illegal aliens. The immigration reform bill passed the other body 97 to 3. Almost everyone wants us to get tougher on illegal aliens. We had already given the INS a 72 percent increase in funding over the last 3 years, 8 times the rate of inflation. Our appropriation bill this year gives them a 25.6 percent increase to $2.2 billion for the fiscal year starting October 1. Yet in spite of all this money, the INS is shirking its duty and it refusing to enforce the law and do the job it is supposed to be doing. Just 2 days ago a state trooper in Knox County, Tennessee, my home county, stopped a van, a regular-sized small van, containing 25 illegal aliens. The people were piled on top of each other. They were on their way to North Carolina. Our local law enforcement officer called the INS office in Memphis and could not even get an answer, even though this was during regular working hours. One of our local radio stations has attempted several times to get through, repeatedly, and has been unable to do so.”