Brian Bilbray

Mr. BILBRAY

Mr. BILBRAY. Social Security. You hear people say, what are we doing about Social Security? Maybe the one thing we should do is start talking about who is getting Social Security benefits. But the President and this administration think there is so much money to be able to be spent on health care, education, Social Security for everybody, even those who should not be here.

Mr. BILBRAY. The only Army man my father ever really appreciated. He was a Navy man. But getting back to the issue. What we are talking about is, I do not understand why the President and Mr. Panetta would hold up the continuation of Government operations because they want to bust up what is called title V, which has reimbursements for the health care; to those of us that need to be reimbursed for the health care of illegal aliens that says that those who want to sponsor people coming into this country have to be responsible for it. It says that those who come here illegally will not get the social benefits; that law-abiding American citizens should get the first priority when it comes to being provided Social Security.

Mr. BILBRAY. Obviously, with a name like Mavis, she had to be from Australia. But the interesting thing: They met in General MacArthur's office.

Mr. BILBRAY. It is well over a million in Tijuana. They have never broken one law. They have not snuck across and broken our national sovereignty. There are a lot of children that would love to have a free education, a lot of people who would love to have free health care. They do not get it. But if they break the law, jump the fence, run down our freeways, swim across our rivers, then Washington says you have got to give them all these free services that the law-abiding citizens that are staying in Tijuana, in their own country, do not receive. Now, I went to a high school, it was interesting, and I always have to chuckle about this, I went to a high school where a lot of kids were from Mexico. They gave American addresses and we went back and forth. And the fact is those of us that were here in the States legally had to prove that we could not provide the resources to be able to pay for our health care. But if they perceive that you are here illegally, they automatically assume, do not worry, we will pay for it. That is wrong. It is wrong then American citizens and legal residents have to stand behind someone who has broken the law. It is wrong when somebody says I will sponsor, and here is the other part of title V, I will sponsor this person and make sure this person does not go on public assistance. And then when the person does go on public assistance, people walk away from that responsibility. I have to say this to you. The one thing I did not tell you, Congressman, is my mother was an Australian war bride. She was an immigrant. In fact, my family is very proud, and you may not know this, my family is very proud that my mother was the first Australian war bride to get her citizenship.

Mr. BILBRAY. Our county actually started the concept of workfare back in 1977. Finally got to Washington. A little slow but we are moving. But the real thing here that comes down is that we are not allowed to ask people to prove that they are legal or illegal, because they say that that may be a violation of some kind of Federal regulation. And you run into the frustration of trying to make sure that illegal aliens are not coming into our country and getting these benefits. The American people I think strongly believe that those who are truly needy, those who are deserving, should be allowed to get benefits, but you do not reward somebody for breaking the law. And I need to really make sure I clarify for the American people. Where I live, when you look up on the hills at night, you see Tijuana. A million people living in Mexico that have never broken one of our laws.

Mr. BILBRAY. To pay the bill. The other aspect is, when I operated, as chairman of San Diego County, I operated a welfare system that was larger than 32 States in the Union. Much larger than Arkansas.

Mr. BILBRAY. To pay the bill.

Mr. BILBRAY. All I know is what is happening now is we have heard that the President's administrative aides are asking that a thing called title V be taken out of our immigration bill. And the title V section is the section where our hospitals in California and around the country that have to give emergency health care to illegal aliens will be reimbursed. It does not sound like a big thing. It is $375 million a year. And let us remember, these are not rich hospitals in wealthy neighborhoods that are impacted. These are poor neighborhoods. These are in neighborhoods of the working class. And we here in Washington and at the White House say we care about the working class. This is really the proof of the pudding. Do they care enough to send the resources to pay back to these people the cost of providing health care to people that were not supposed to be here and the Federal Government is responsible for? Let me tell you, the Federal Government and this administration is the biggest deadbeat dad in this country if they do not pay for this baby, if they do not pay for this expense, because it is coming out of the working class.

Mr. BILBRAY. It happened over the last few years. You have to recognize that that atrocity is happening today and continues to happen, while those of us in Washington fiddle, people today are driving off roads and crashing. I saw a brother and a sister, and these were not young kids, these are 15 and 16 year old brother and sister, trying to run across a freeway late at night, actually it was afternoon, following a smuggler. And what happens is the old and the young are usually in the back of these linings and there may be 30 people running across a freeway. And the smuggler is in the front. And the poor people that are the slower, younger, older people in the back, and when you have seen what has happened when they get hit by a car, you have to say when will Washington wake up to the fact that this is a cruel hoax? What we are doing is we are saying officially you are supposed to come into this country legally. But, but, if you come in here illegally, we will give your children free education, we will give you welfare benefits, we will give you health benefits. We will give you a world that you can only dream of where you are now. And no wonder these people risk their life and play this game. We had a poor group of illegals that died within less than a mile of a hospital in Chula Vista, CA; died from exposure and thirst, sitting in a canyon. Within a mile. And this is supposed to be a great humane thing to do? So when somebody comes up here and says you are mean-spirited because you want to control illegal immigration, you are mean-spirited because you want to stop this carnage, all I can say is come in my neighborhood and see what is going on.

Mr. BILBRAY. There were drowning, there were cliffs, they were running off cliffs. They still do it tonight, and they were killed on the highways. But just the County of San Diego, the taxpayers of one county had to pay $30,000 just to send people back. The most heartbreaking situations. So I am trying to come here to Washington to wake up this body, that this is a Federal responsibility. The Constitution says the people of San Diego and the people of California do not have the right to control the border. They do not have the right to enforce immigration law. By law, only the Federal Government has the right to do that. And you can hear people again and again in this hall talk about we need to hire more law enforcement, and we need to hire more teachers. Well, let me tell the gentleman from California, it does not take an act of Congress for a city like when I was mayor to hire a police officer. We can do that locally. It does not take an act of Congress for a school district to hire a teacher. But it takes an act of Congress and an act of the President to stop the carnage along our borders. If I have to say anything else, please, please be sensitive to the fact of how many people are dying in this situation. Over the last few years, and if you say 3 or 4 years, more people have died trying to cross into our country illegally than were killed in Oklahoma's explosion. And I wish this institution could have people stand up as outraged and infuriated about the terrorism along our border, as they said about Oklahoma. And it was right to be outraged about Oklahoma, but it is wrong for this institution or the President to ignore the problems along the border. The thing that really hit me----

Mr. BILBRAY. They were actually trying to swim across the rivers. Now what happens is while there are floods going on, the cayotes, the smugglers, tell them swim across this body of water, and they do not realize how swift it is and how hard it is to make it across. There is debris in there. I have actually, when I was chairman of San Diego County, gone out with the lifeguards. They asked me to come help them because they needed somebody who was a lifeguard, who knew the area. I went out and rescued illegal aliens and put them on the skids of helicopters so we could pick them up and carry them off. Let me remind you, the Federal Government did not say anything about the expense of rescuing those people. Those of us in San Diego County paid for this expense. The thing that really shocked me was how many people did not make it? In one year, when I was chairman of the county, we spent over $30,000 sending people back to Mexico in body bags, $30,000 worth of dead people that were caused from the lack of control. So when people talk about----

Mr. BILBRAY. It is a mad, mad world down there right now. The fact is those of us that live along the border, like I have, when I was a lifeguard, I rescued illegal aliens drowning. But what I have seen----

Mr. BILBRAY. I was mayor of Imperial Beach. It is easy to find my hometown, if you know where the Pacific Ocean and where the Mexican border is. Where they meet is where I live.

Mr. BILBRAY. My stepfather actually was a PBY pilot, decorated in World War II. But when we talk about the border issue, I grew up along the border, as you know. It is part of our culture to be binational. In fact, I was mayor when I was 27 years old with a city that was sister cities with Tijuana. And we would constantly have that intercultural communication again and again.

Mr. BILBRAY

Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, I am sorry if I ask questions on this. We disagreed on certain elements of the immigration bill across the aisle. There are those of us that tried to find a compromise and felt that this body went too far. I am sorry if I am saying now that those of us that went to the compromise and agreed now feel the goal post has been moved. I have got to go back to California and explain this to the people of San Diego County. I apologize for asking questions.

Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, there are millions of people, over 5 million people voted for an initiative that says we need to stop giving benefits. I just want to know, does that include the benefit packages that were all in this? We cannot ask those of us in California to walk away.

Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, we are talking about $375 million for the people of California. I think there should be an answer.

Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the majority leader yielding. Those of us in California are aware of this issue. Would you explain what is in title V so this body realizes what the administration is opposing? Mr. Leader, my question is this: Does the administration realize that the reimbursement for emergency health care that we have is in that package?

Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. BILBRAY

Mr. BILBRAY. San Diego, 1993, channel 8.

Mr. BILBRAY. I appreciate the gentleman from Indiana, and I think we need to say that this is not just a California issue. If, frankly, by this action, the President is indicating that we have enough money for social security, there is more than enough money for college, college tuition and college benefits for everyone, including those who are illegally here, that the concept that benefits and welfare programs and social programs are so overflowing with resources that it does not matter if we give to those who are illegally here. Now, I do not think anyone in this room believes that we have a surplus of resources for all these programs. In fact, I think there are a lot of us here that think there is not enough for those who deserve to get it. The question is, do we have an administration that says I am willing to expect Americans who have played by the rules to do without so that those who have broken the law get their part because I want them to get it? And I do not think anyone is going to look at the fact of the mixed message, as a woman who is illegally in this country said to me, ``Mr. Bilbray, you wouldn't be giving us all these benefits if you didn't want us here.'' What a mixed message. But we are talking about certain things. Let me say this to San Diego. I live on the border. I can see the bull ring by the sea from my front yard. This is very real and very personal. If you do not care about the tax dollars, if you do not care about social security, if you do not care about our kids and the law-abiding children here getting college benefits, think about the hospitals in San Diego County. This bill, with title 5, this section that the President is talking about cutting out, is the part that reimburses for emergency health care that the Federal Government mandates that my hospitals provide the people who are illegally in the country. This is how absurd it is. Somebody jumps the fence at the border and breaks their ankle. The immigration people call the local ambulance service that serves the working class community. And this is not rich neighborhoods; these are working class neighborhoods; they need these services. But those services are being used to transport somebody to the hospital in a working class hospital, not a wealthy neighborhood hospital, and that that hospital then provides the service for free because we mandate they get it for free, and then when immigration officers are called to come pick up these individuals, Immigration does not come pick them up, because then they would have to pay the bill. The Federal Government would have to pay for the expense of somebody who got injured jumping a Federal fence because they are illegally in this country. And so the Federal Government is a deadbeat dad that walks away from it, and who ends up doing without because of it? Well, it is not the rich white people in the wealthiest neighborhoods, it is the poor and the needy, the people in this House and people in the White House say they care about. But this President would deny the fact that this Federal Government would finally start reimbursing those poor hospitals that are being impacted so severely. One case, one case that is reported to be where an immigration truck had hit a person, could not be proven, was over a million dollars that came out of the hospital that serves the poor of San Diego County. And let me tell you right now I will send you the report that hospital is on the brink of bankruptcy because it is constantly being required to carry a burden. And there are a lot of burdens, but one of them that is absolutely unforgivable is the Federal Government playing the deadbeat dad and dumping this on the people. Now let me say the reimbursement for the ambulance service is in this, that is we start dropping off patients at a hospital, our Federal agents, our Federal Government, should start footing the bill. Now that may not seem like so much, but let me just say this to you. In 1988 and 1989, in California, the taxpayers of California paid $21 million providing emergency medical care. In 1996 to 1997, the costs reached $376 million. That is a 13-fold increase in just 8 years. Now some people say, well, that is just money. Well, let me tell you what that money would buy. In California, if we were not having to provide this service, we could provide substance abuse treatment for an additional 19,000 pregnant women, 19,000, to avoid positive talks to try to prevent positive toxic children. We can provide perinatal care for 40,000 women and their babies, 40,000, and we could provide early mental health counseling for 18,000 young children. So when someone says you just are insensitive, I provided these services as a county supervisor for over 8 years. I have seen who has been hurt by this issue, and it is the poor and the needy that everybody says they care about and have walked away from this. I ask that the President reverse his position, do not hold us hostage by trying to strip us of title V. This is what the people of California say clearly, and this is what the people across this country say. Let us not deny the people that need these services who are here legally and have played by the rules. Let us not take away from the bright people that are playing by the rules and give it to somebody who has broken the rules. And let us not, for God's sake, be the biggest deadbeat dad in America and walk away from our responsibility to reimburse these poor working class communities for the unfair burden that they have been required to bear for so long.

Mr. BILBRAY

Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, as somebody who lives on the border with Mexico and grew up with the immigration issue, I am very concerned to hear my colleagues on the other side of the aisle say, ``Let's not do it now. Let's put it off and try to do something else in the next Congress.'' I as a mayor and as a county supervisor, I worked with the problems in our community with illegal immigration, crime, the impacts on our health care system. In fact, if my colleagues go to our hospitals today, they will see there are major adverse impacts. Talk to our law enforcement people about the major impact of illegal immigration. The cost is not just in dollars and cents. And I would ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, if you don't care about the cost to the working class people, because this illegal immigration does not affect the rich white people, illegal immigration hurts those who need our services and our jobs in this country more than anything else, those who are legally here. But if you don't care about that, let me ask you to care about the humanity that is being slaughtered every day along our border because Washington, not Mexico, not Latin America, not anywhere else in the country, but Washington and the leadership in Washington has pulled a cruel hoax that says, ``Come to our country illegally, and we will reward you. Come to our country, and we will give you benefits.'' I ask my colleagues to consider this: In my neighborhoods in south San Diego, we have had more people die in the last few years being slaughtered on our freeways, drowned in our rivers, run off of cliffs. More people have died, my colleagues, trying to cross the border illegally in San Diego than were killed in the Oklahoma bombing. Now I ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who wanted to delay and put it off, Would you delay addressing one of the greatest terrorist acts that we have seen in our neighborhoods and along the border than we have seen in our lifetime? If Oklahoma's explosion was so important that we address that slaughter, please do not walk away from the loss of humanity down in San Diego and in California along the border. There are people that are dying because they are told to come to this country and we will reward them. Please join with us. Support the rule. Let us reform illegal immigration and let us do it now. Quit finding excuses.

Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this conference report. I would like to thank Chairman Smith and Chairman Simpson for the leadership they have shown on this bill. I would also like to commend Senator Feinstein of California for her commitment to make the conference report work and encourage the President to sign it into law. I think that the public is sick and tired of seeing the partisan fighting on important issues such as this. Senator Feinstein had a major concern about one portion of the bill, part of the bill I feel strongly about, and that is the issue of the mandate of the Federal Government that we give free education to illegal aliens while our citizen and legal resident children are doing without. But, Mr. Speaker, this Member, and I think the American people, are not willing to kill this bill because of a single provision. I think there are those who will find excuses to try to kill this bill and try to find ways not to address an issue that has been ignored for over a decade. We must not forget that California has been disproportionately hit with paying $400 million a year in emergency health care, $500 million for incarceration costs, and $2 billion in providing education for illegal aliens in our State. Congress must still recognize that these are federally mandated costs and it is up to the Federal Government to either put up or shut up in ending these unfunded mandates. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, let us talk about playing by the rules. If this bill is not passed, those who have broken immigration law and entered this country legally have more rights than those who are waiting patiently at the ports of entry to enter into this country. That kind of confuses me, because my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have no problem with an immigration agent turning away somebody at the port of entry if they are coming to a legal port of entry, without a judge's rulings, without court cases, without lawyers. But if somebody jumps the fence, breaks the law, then they want to continue to empower these people with more rights than those who are playing by the rules. I have to say, this is the absurdity of Washington, that we are even discussing this issue. But they are saying, what if this legislation passes, what could happen? Let me tell the Members, as somebody who lives on the border, let me say what happened today and what has happened in the past. San Diego County, when I was a supervisor, spent $30,000 sending people back to foreign countries in body bags, because of how many people are dying because of this problem. The fact is, there are law-abiding citizens who are doing without in their hospitals because the Federal Government is actively dumping patients onto working-class hospitals and expecting those communities to pay the bill that Washington has played the deadbeat dad and walked away from. This bill will finally correct that. Mr. Speaker, I think the chairman of the committee said quite clearly, we want to have a welcome mat out for legal immigration, but there is a difference between having a welcome mat and being a doormat. Our taxpayers have a right to expect that citizens do have rights and should be first in our priorities for social programs and for the taxpayers' dollars; the fact that illegal aliens should not be given preference over legal residents and citizens. Mr. Speaker, if our colleagues from the other side of the aisle want to walk away from this issue, then they are walking away from a major mandate, not just from the people of California, but across this country. We had bipartisan support at finally addressing the issue of the absurdity of welfare, and we passed a welfare reform bill the President signed. It is time to be bipartisan. Pass this bill. Give the President the chance to sign this bill, too.