John Hope Bryant: “Mr. Chairman, the amendment is a situation in which the majority giveth and the majority taketh away, to some extent.…”

“Mr. Chairman, the amendment is a situation in which the majority giveth and the majority taketh away, to some extent. Three of the provisions in the amendment are in our view good, and helpful; in particular, the one that does not disqualify people with children who are here whose parents are illegal aliens from participating in Head Start, because our effort, of course, is to keep every child in school and to get every child educated, no matter what their status. The other changes, however, raise some questions. I think they raise some questions which should have been the subject to hearings in committee. For example, the proposal that the Attorney General be given authority to deputize State and local law enforcement officers to even conduct deportation proceedings raises some very serious questions with regard to workability and with regard to perhaps constitutionality. I am not sure we want them to be conducting deportation proceedings. The third proposal that is in the amendment which raises questions as well, and I think some very practical ones, suggests that the law would read that a person who is eligible for housing assistance and knowingly permits someone not eligible to use their housing would then face a 2-year termination of their housing assistance.”