Henry Bonilla: “the debate tonight started out on the high road, and I was highly impressed and glad to see Members that are opposed to…”

“the debate tonight started out on the high road, and I was highly impressed and glad to see Members that are opposed to this resolution standing up and arguing the validity of this case on its merits. I even had a tremendous amount of respect and watched with great attention when the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Obey], my colleague on the Committee on Appropriations, stood up and got very emotional to tell us that he disagreed strongly with what we were doing tonight. But then the debate deteriorated to those who choose to play the race card, when it is inappropriate, when they know they have lost other merits in their argument. That is unfortunate. Three of my four grandparents emigrated here from Mexico at the turn of the century to seek a new life for their children and grandchildren. They did not come here to set up an isolated society within this country. They came here to be Americans first and to become part of the melting pot of this country that stood for certain values that all of us could benefit from regardless of what country we came from. This country has prospered greatly because of the great immigration that we have seen from every part of the world. We should all be proud of that. To see Members tonight talk about racism is totally unjustified and they should be ashamed of themselves for doing that. Members cannot tell me this is racism.”