John Culberson: “The objection of the gentleman from California (Mr. Costa) to this amendment is that he does not believe current Federal…”

“The objection of the gentleman from California (Mr. Costa) to this amendment is that he does not believe current Federal law is good public policy. As a Member of Congress, he has the privilege of filing amendments and filing legislation to change current Federal legislation, but we cannot, as lawmakers, encourage law breaking. All the amendment of the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King) says is that if a local or State government expects to receive Federal money, they should comply with Federal law. It is really that simple. Mr. King's amendment simply says that, if you expect to receive funding from the Department of Justice, if you expect to receive funding under the SCAAP program--the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program--to compensate local jurisdictions for housing illegal aliens who have broken State law and are housed in a State or local jail at local taxpayer expense, if you want to be compensated for that and if you want to apply for grant funding from the Department of Justice, all Mr. King's amendment says is follow Federal law. If you want Federal money, follow Federal law. The Federal law is very clear. The law Mr. King is referencing here is very simple. It simply says that a State or local government may not prohibit or in any way restrict a government entity or official from sending or receiving any information regarding the citizenship or immigration status of any individual to the Immigration Services. That is all this law says.…”