John Hope Bryant: “I think it would have been best, frankly, had my good friend, the gentleman from California [Mr. Gallegly], who I…”

“I think it would have been best, frankly, had my good friend, the gentleman from California [Mr. Gallegly], who I believe to be quite sincere about this, had simply brought to the floor the original amendment which says flatly that we are going to prohibit the children of illegal aliens, illegal immigrants, from going to school. This is a repackaged version which attempts to make it seem like it is a little more palatable, but it has really the same effect. I know that my friend from California would argue that point. But it has the same lack of effect as well. Illegal immigrants do not come to the United States so they can get their kids in school. It really is, if my colleagues think about it, ridiculous to allege that they do. They come here to get jobs. The fact that we have illegal immigrants in the schools is the fault of our Federal policy which has, particularly in Mr. Gallegly's State and mine of Texas, border States and big border States, resulted in an awful lot of kids being in the school system; there is no question about it. It is aggravating, and it is expensive. We put in the immigration bill a provision to require the Federal Government, who is to blame for the situation, to require them to pay the cost. It is not fair to make the schools of Texas, the school districts in Texas or California or anywhere else, pay this cost. Well that disappeared somewhere along the line in a House in which the Republicans are the majority. That is gone.”