Pete Sessions: “first of all, I want to say, nobody is talking about ending immigration if this bill does not survive this amendment.…”

“first of all, I want to say, nobody is talking about ending immigration if this bill does not survive this amendment. The 1 million people who are allowed to enter our country every year will continue to be able to come in under current law. So it is not so to say a vote to pull this unwise and flawed bill, and send it back for further review, is an effort to end immigration, for Heaven's sakes. We are going to pass, sooner or later, I believe, a bill that will increase immigration, and I will be pleased to support that. However, this one is about three times what the current rate is, and I think that is higher than we ought to approve. So we need to talk about that. I talked to the Congressional Budget Office people today. They only did a 10-year score. Do you know why the first 10 years look better than the second 10 years? Because under the bill, you basically do not get citizenship until the 11th year, and you become entitled to all the benefits our country can give you in the 11th year, including that you have a right to bring in your aging parents. If 1 out of 10 bring in their parents--1 out of 10--according to Mr. Robert Rector at the Heritage Foundation, that will be $30 billion a year. He also estimates that the basic welfare medical cost for the people who will be given amnesty will be $16 billion. So it is $46 billion. He actually said, in his opinion, it would probably be between $50 billion and $60 billion. That is what he said.…”