Political Quotes

“I think there are many good provisions of H.R. 2202 dealing with illegal immigration, and adding approximately 6,000 people to monitoring our borders certainly can address that problem. But what we are proposing in the current language, unless the Chrysler amendment is adopted, to me runs contrary to all our values. Just stop and think where your ancestors came from. Why did they join the cosmic race here? It was for the same reasons that we enjoy being Americans. It is the land of opportunity and the home of the brave, and we enjoy a degree of personal liberty that is unprecedented. Looking at the historic figures, the first time we deviated from our traditional policy was with the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. We locked Chinese out for a decade. Then in 1924 we started establishing quotas and we discriminated against the Orient in that package. This kind of thing is inconsistent with our historic tradition. Our percentage of immigrants in this country today is infinitely lower than it was for the first 150 years. I urge Members to support the Chrysler amendment.”