Senate’s Amnesty Plan Won’t Fly (Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite)

It seems I will never stop being stunned by the audacity and chutzpah of the United States Senate.  I’ve known for a while now that Senators Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Reid (D-Nev.) were tone deaf when they proposed opening our borders and granting illegal immigrants amnesty, but I did not know Senate Republicans would follow their misguided lead.  I guess I was proven wrong once again.

The Senate’s amnesty plan does nothing to secure our borders, and is a slap in the face to every law abiding immigrant who wants to come to America the right way — legally.  Our nation already faces crises with huge deficits for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.  Now the Senate and President Bush want to put anywhere from 12 to 20 million lawbreakers onto the public dole, draining precious resources that were intended for American citizens?  My constituents want their hard-earned benefits protected, not thrown away like beads at Mardi Gras.

I hope that every law-abiding American recognizes the Senate plan for what it is –- amnesty for millions of lawbreakers.  I have promised my constituents time and again that amnesty will not fly for this Floridian and that I will fight tooth and nail to see it defeated in the U.S. House of Representatives.