The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION” mentioning the Federal Reserve System was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H2565-H2569 on March 14, 2007.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 18, 2007, the gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray) is recognized for 60 minutes.
Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to present our report to the American people on the status of the immigration issue tonight, and it is an honor to be able to welcome you to the Speaker's chair.
As a new freshman, or as one of your first times up there, I want to congratulate you on your advent to service of the people of America as the acting Speaker tonight.
Mr. Speaker, actually tonight we are talking about an issue that a lot of Americans have asked for a long time to be addressed, and that is the many different ways that we are encouraging illegal immigration. But actually tonight, we are to be talking about one of the items that originally was not intended to be one of immigration, it was one to be basically addressing national security and neighborhood security.
For good reasons, Congress in the past, both Democrats and Republicans, have said that the movement of capital funds, of bank accounts, was a major issue in fighting things like drug trafficking, of terrorist activities and of other illegal activities to where the United States' Congress, with this support and the consent of the people of the United States, said that before somebody opens a bank account, before they start getting involved in business transactions with a lending institution, they need to show and prove who they are so we know who is moving this cash back and forth. The identification issue became critical to make sure that drug cartels and criminal elements and terrorist elements were not able to use our institutions of lending, of finance, as part of their terrorist and illegal activity.
Sadly what has happened, though, is we passed a law that said everyone must be identified. There are lending institutions that have found ways to get around the law and say that if somebody is able to get a phony ID from a phony government document, we will look the other way and use that to be able to open bank accounts.
A lot of this discussion is specifically about illegal immigrants being able to get these documents, because you have countries such as Mexico that are willing to give documents, ID documents to individuals without any proof of who they are. Thus, the document such as the consulate card from the Republic of Mexico isn't worth the paper it is written on.
What has happened is these institutions, these American institutions, are actually participating in business transactions that they know violates the spirit of the law and accepts phony identification as a way to be able to engage in business that otherwise would be illegal for legal resident aliens and U.S. citizens to engage in, because the rest of us are required to show viable identification.
At this time I have the privilege to recognize the gentlelady from Tennessee. At this time I would like to yield whatever time she may consume to Mrs. Blackburn.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. I thank the gentleman from California, and I thank him for his insightfulness on the immigration issue.
He has done so much work in his service in this Congress addressing this issue and encouraging people to look at the issue, to learn about the issue and to realize it is more than just a surface issue.
I also have appreciated the fact that the gentleman has encouraged people to realize the compassionate thing to do in this is to make certain that we keep immigration legal and that we honor the men and women who have gone through the process legally.
That is important to do, and it is the right step It is the compassionate step to make.
H.R. 1314 addresses the issue that Mr. Bilbray mentioned and referenced as he opened his remarks about those that have entered the country illegally, getting access to our financial markets. Now, H.R. 1314 is the Photo Identification Security Act. This is a great piece of legislation. It is not a lengthy bill, it is one that I think everybody here in the House can pick up and read in 1 or 2 minutes. As you see, it is only about three pages.
What it does is something very big and very important, though, it closes a loophole that exists in the PATRIOT Act and the IRS regulations, and it is through that loophole that you could literally drive a truck. That is the loophole that we know that not only illegal immigrants use, but sexual predators and identity thieves, those people that want to be anonymous, that need to be anonymous, that have to be anonymous to the legal system. This is what they are choosing to use to gain access to banking institutions, to wire transfer services from the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Treasury, the IRS. It is giving them the ability to sign up for credit cards, to get home mortgages, to obtain taxpayer identification numbers, which employers call ITEN numbers, and to transfer money from this country back to Mexico.
This is a difficult situation for our country, because we have spent a lot of time, effort and energy trying to seek out terrorist groups and those that would do us harm. We are spending a lot of time, effort and energy talking about protecting intellectual property and looking at money laundering and how those pirates are laundering money and sending it back out of the country, taking money out of our communities.
We are spending a lot of time routing out identity thieves. Certainly in my community I hear from so many people who have had their identity lifted. They have had it stolen. They have had somebody take that from them, and then these individuals want to go open checking accounts, they want to go open credit cards and run up the number, just swipe those numbers off that credit card, run it ragged.
Somebody pays the bill, and it always comes back to being the American taxpayer that is going to pay the bill for fraud and for misuse. Happens every single time, every single time. This is a very serious problem to the faith that people have in our governing institutions. It is a serious problem to the stability of our financial markets. But there is a solution to this problem, and it is H.R. 1314, the Photo Identification Security Act.
As I said, it is a very simple bill, and I will do three things. It says in order to access our nation's financial services, in order to do business with the Federal Government, you have to present one of the three secure forms of ID as recognized in this country.
Number one would be a Social Security card with a government-issued State or Federal government issued photo ID. This could be a driver's license, if you are from a State that complies with the REAL ID Act.
Then you have got number two, a U.S. passport or a foreign nation passport. That would be a passport that we recognize, that we have a reciprocity agreement with.
The third form of ID would be a US citizenship and immigration service photo ID card. Now, that would be your USCIS permanent resident card, permanent alien card, work card, green card. Simply put, you have to have a visa before you can apply for a visa if this legislation passes, and we are encouraging everyone to join us in this. We are encouraging everyone, both parties, both Houses, to sign on, let's close this loophole and close it quickly.
I was talking to one of my constituents about this problem after it had arisen, it was a banker, in rural west Tennessee in my district. He was excited that we were working on this bill and thrilled that we were going to be closing this loophole. He looked at it like this, he told me a story of a couple of his customers, they had worked at a local plant, both had retired.
Then they decided they wanted to buy a motor home, which they did, good customers at the bank, so they get the motor home. They decide to start travelling.
Well, they needed a credit card to make reservations at those campgrounds. This banker could not get them a credit card because they had never had a credit card. They had a checking account. They had pretty much operated on cash, they had retired, they were now unemployed. They could not qualify for a credit card.
So, when the scandal began that we had major iconic banks in this country issuing credit cards to those that had illegally entered this country, as long as they were willing to put $100 in a checking account and leave it there for a month, then they could get a $500 credit card, that gentleman, that good, solid, patriotic American man that has worked for a company, retired from a company and wanted to enjoy his retirement years, walked into that bank, and he asked that banker, do I need to be an illegal immigrant just to get a credit card in this country?
That is the right question for him to ask. That is how ludicrous the practice is and how horrific it is that we would have these big banks, big banks, big iconic companies that have benefitted from the prosperity of this great Nation to play favorites and to say, all right, if you are an illegal immigrant, if you want to put $100 in over here, I am going to give you a $500 credit card.
Basically, I will tell you, that is predatory lending. Basically, that is a pretty high interest rate to go get a credit card, but that is the way we are doing it, and their response is we are exploiting a loophole. So the loophole needs to be closed because it just isn't right. It isn't a practice that should continue.
Another thing I have heard from some of my constituents is this, all of our local communities depend on keeping money in that community and having it turn over in the community several times before it leaves. You know, once somebody earns a dollar, they like to have that dollar turn over three and a half, four, four and a half, five times, in order to keep that economy humming along.
You earn the dollar, you go by the grocery store and make the purchase, and by the dry cleaners and by the shoe shop. You go over and you take the kids out for ice cream after you have gone to the ball game. You go buy new sporting goods for them to play in that ball game. Then you go buy new clothes for Easter as you are getting ready for Easter, and a swim suit for summer, maybe even a little swimming school for the backyard. The point is, the money has to turn over in that community in order for the community to be available.
Guess what, our friendly Federal Reserve system has done? The Federal Reserve system of the U.S. government has set up a system that allows illegal immigrants to transfer money back to the Bank of Mexico, direct to Mexico is the program.
The funny thing about this is, there are 27,000 transaction a month to the tune of $23 billion a year.
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Mr. Speaker, guess what? Friendly Federal Reserve is bragging about keeping the fees low, $0.67 a 100. Well, I have not found a one of my constituents who has said their ATM fees are going down. I have not had a one of them say their checking account fees are going down. I haven't had a one of them say they have had any transaction fee go down. My merchants complain about the fees that they get charged. And we even have a hearing reported in one of our Hill newspapers today about retailers and banks duking it out over transaction fees.
But then we have another article that came out of the L.A. Times that is talking about the Federal Reserve bragging about being able to keep these fees low.
Now, Mr. Speaker, it is a little bit of a head scratcher, I will have to admit it, my goodness gracious, you know, when they can go in here and they can wire this money out of the country, 27,000 transactions a month, $23 billion a year, the money is not turning over in the local communities.
Some of our friends across the aisle are saying, well, you know, we are not seeing what we want in jobs growth and income growth, even though it has been pretty healthy. Maybe they need to look at some of this. Maybe they need to join us in stopping illegal immigration. Maybe they need to join us in standing against amnesty. Maybe they need to make sure that we are a sovereign and free Nation, and that we remain so.
The Photo Identification Security Act, closing the loophole that allows those that have illegally entered this country, that allows those who are predators and identity thieves to remain anonymous to the system; closing that loophole, so that they do not have access to credit, so that they do not have access to our financial markets, so that they cannot have the ability to remain anonymous to the system.
I encourage everyone to join me in supporting H.R. 1314, the Photo Identification Security Act. I encourage everyone in this body, Mr. Speaker, to join us in closing this loophole that exists in the PATRIOT Act and the IRS regulations. And I encourage them to join us in encouraging the Federal Reserve to end the program that allows $23 billion to be transferred out of this Nation every year without turning over in the community. Every single year.
Let's be certain that we keep our economy secure and safer. Let's be sure that we keep our communities secure and safe, and let's be certain that we are fair to the families and the working men and women in this great Nation.
And I yield back to the gentleman from California.
Mr. BILBRAY. Thank you. I appreciate the gentlelady. Let me say at this time, it is my privilege to introduce the gentleman from Texas, who actually is a, in his previous life, was a judge who saw over 25,000 cases. So this is a man who knows a crime when he sees it. And at this time I would yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe).
Mr. POE. I thank the gentleman from California, and also your leadership on the Immigration Caucus. This important issue, border security, immigration is a national security issue, Mr. Speaker. And the people from Southeast Texas who I represent have long been concerned about the open borders that we have in the United States and the continuing problems that arise from that.
It is said, Mr. Speaker, that money is the root of all evil. And companies like Bank of America think making a buck is more important than knowing who their customers really are. By issuing credit cards and bank accounts to people who show little, if any legitimate documentation, banks are leaving the door wide open for money laundering, fraud, and identity theft. They contribute to the magnet that drives people to the United States to come and stay here illegally. And they are blatantly sending a message to drug cartels and terrorists around the world that they are open to business for anybody that has got a little money.
Bank of America's slogan is ``Higher Standards.'' Higher standards, Mr. Speaker. It seems they have no standards. Whatever happened to good corporate citizenship, where integrity takes a back seat to banking greed? Since when does greed override their responsibility?
Let me read to you what the Bank's Director of Latin American Card Operation, a Mr. Brian Tuite, I think that is his last name, T-U-I-T-E, said about this recent bank program of giving credit to illegals in the United States. He said, ``These people are coming here for quality of life, and they deserve somebody to give them a chance to achieve that quality of life.''
Mr. Speaker, since when did Mr. Tuite write Federal immigration laws? And what part of illegal immigrant does he not understand? You know, with that attitude, I suggest he and Bank of America change their name to Bank of Mexico.
While on the subject of Federal immigration laws, let me read Title 8 of the U.S. Code, section 1324(a) which defines several distinct offenses related to illegals. The law prohibits, among other things, encouraging or inducing unauthorized aliens, that is Federal language for illegals, to enter the United States, and engaging in a conspiracy or aiding and abetting any of the preceding acts.
So what is the Department of Homeland Security doing about all this? Are they working to strengthen document standards for banks like my colleague from Tennessee is attempting to do, Ms. Blackburn? No. They are using Bank of America's position to argue for more guest workers and for amnesty that would reward illegals en masse. They seem not to get it.
The Department of Homeland Security spokesman, Russ Knocke said banking products aimed at illegal immigrants reinforce the need for a temporary worker program. This is nonsense. His idea rewards the unlawful activity of being in the country illegally by now saying it is permissible activity to be here illegally.
Banking products aimed at illegal immigrants do not reinforce the need for a temporary worker program. They reinforce the need to enforce the border rules, strengthen interior enforcement of immigration laws and punish companies who openly flout the rule of law.
How do we expect to hold employers who knowingly hire illegals accountable when American banks are rolling out the welcome mat to illegals and giving them credit?
Issuing credit cards to people without valid and legitimate documentation makes no sense. The banking industry would have you believe it has to do with helping these poor individuals with bad credit history. This is nonsense, again. It is all about banks cashing in on the underground illegal cash economy, pure and simple. It is all about money. It always has been, and it always will be.
I am proud to be a cosponsor of H.R. 1314, the Photo Identification Security Act that Mrs. Blackburn has spoken about and offered tonight. This legislation will close the Federal loophole created in the PATRIOT act that allows for financial institutions to accept these bogus alternate forms of identification when opening accounts or obtaining credit cards.
Like Mrs. Blackburn pointed out, many American citizens and lawful immigrants have difficulty obtaining credit or credit cards, but banks are making it easier for illegals to obtain credit and credit cards.
This bill will require any official business with the Federal Government or financial institutions to accept one of the forms of identification that are normal, such as a Social Security card, with a government issued identification card, including a state driver's license, a U.S. or foreign passport or U.S. citizenship and immigration service photo identification card.
The Mexican government-issued matricula consular card under this new legislation will no longer be accepted. Now, Mr. Speaker, the MATRICULA CONSULAR CARD, issued by the nation of Mexico, is an identification card made by the Mexican government for Mexican nationals that are illegally in the United States. Banks and even our Federal Government have now begun to accept this as a valid identification form. We need to work with the banking industry and convince them to maintain the integrity of our laws and provide strict guidelines on acceptable and secure identification policies. Banks like Bank of America need to stop encouraging illegal entry into the United States and quit pandering to the illegals that are here, all in the name of the all mighty peso.
So I appreciate the time the gentleman from California has given me and, hopefully, working together, we can stop this nonsense of allowing illegals in this country to obtain special privileges over American citizens and lawful immigrants.
Mr. BILBRAY. Thank you very much.
Mr. Speaker, I think that the gentleman from Texas pointed out a real issue here, and that is the special treatment being given to somebody who is being perceived to be legally in the country. If you are a resident, legal alien, if you are a U.S. citizen, you are expected by these institutions to show up with the proper documentation, viable ID to prove you are who you are. But under this misguided concept that if you are here illegally, we can't expect you to live up to the minimum standard that everyone legally is playing here, that we will accept this consular card, which, admittedly, is given without any documentation, without any verification, and could be used by drug cartels, could be used by terrorists, could be used by anyone as a way of hiding their identity. But because we perceive you may be illegally in the country, we will abandon all our standards that we apply to everyone else and allow you to have a special standard that does not hold you to the viable ID requirement.
I just think that Americans across this country keep saying, how far off course can we go in America? And sadly, this is an issue that the Federal Government has been allowing to happen, that the administration has looked the other way on, and I think it is something that this administration has to address, this Congress has to address. And the American people need to call their Members of Congress and say, where do you stand on this issue of viable identification for the opening of financial arrangements?
At this time, Mr. Speaker, I have the privilege to be able to yield whatever time he may consume to the gentleman from Virginia, Virgil Goode.
Mr. GOODE. Thank you, Mr. Bilbray.
Mr. Speaker, I want to say thanks, first, to you, as the Chair of the Immigration Reform Caucus, and to your predecessor, Tom Tancredo of Colorado, for your relentless efforts to secure our Nation and make our country safer by enhancing border security and by reducing magnets that are attractions to illegals. One magnet has been discussed just by the previous speakers. Mrs. Blackburn of Tennessee and Mr. Poe of Texas have discussed the legislation that will, hopefully, block companies like Bank of America from issuing credit cards to illegal aliens. That is a magnet for them to come here and get an American credit card.
There are many other magnets that attract millions to come across our borders to avoid the law and to enter this country illegally. Amnesty is a huge magnet. Amnesty means that if you get here and stay here a little while, we are going to let you stay. We are going to give you a blue card, a red card or a green card, and we are going to give you a glidepath to citizenship. Amnesty is probably the worst magnet of all. It is estimated that between 12 and 20 million persons are here illegally already. And they are placing a financial burden on the educational and social services of localities and states.
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Also, many illegals are criminals, and they are filling local jails, State prisons, and placing a burden on our law enforcement system. Even in a State like Virginia, which is not adjacent to our southern border, you can talk with local law enforcement officials and they can tell you about the number of persons that they believe to be illegal going through the criminal justice system is costing the taxpayers of the localities of the Fifth District and the citizens of the State of Virginia millions of dollars.
I listened to the President's State of the Union message. I was happy when he said that we needed to have our borders more secure, but I was not happy, very much so, about his proposal that would grant amnesty to illegals. Paying a fine for breaking immigration laws of the United States and after a few years being given an opportunity to become a citizen is amnesty any way you slice it. And I don't care what others say about legalization or regularization, they are euphemisms for amnesty.
Once the illegals become citizens, they have the right to petition to bring family members into the United States. And that is not just son, daughter, father, mother, it extends beyond that, it is called chain migration. If you give amnesty to 12 million illegals, that is going to be 60 million in less than half a decade. A huge burden on the United States. And it is a reward for those who broke the law.
Giving a glidepath to citizenship in the mid-1980s was tried. It was an amnesty then. It failed. It didn't stop the flow, we had more. It served as a lure for more to come across our borders. And there is reason to believe that if we do it again, millions upon millions will follow suit because they will say in the 1980s, if we worked our way across, just walked across one night, maybe with a guide, maybe without a guide, and we stayed there a few years, they gave us amnesty. And you know what? In the nineties more just came across the border, that border that has very little fencing along it. They just came in, and they got them amnesty then. And they are counting on another one in this decade.
If we want to stop a big magnet for illegal immigration, we will have a firm and signed policy of no amnesty, no matter how euphemistic you may make the words ``amnesty'' sound.
And Mr. Bilbray is from San Diego. The fence between San Diego and Mexico is working. It is not a simple barbed-wire fence, it is not a simple woven-wire fence, it is a three-layer fence with two rows, and it is a stopper. I hear those on the other side and many in this body say, you know, we really don't need a fence, we can do some other things; a fence won't work. Let me tell you, the opponents of the fence don't like it because it will do the job. I don't think anyone yet has made it across the fence in San Diego by climbing the first fence, going across the road, climbing the huge barrier fence in the middle, going across the next road and then crossing the third fence. And very few, if any, tunnelists have been able to make it so far.
So the magnet of amnesty is one that needs to be rejected. And if this body and the body on the other side on our executive branch were to come out four-square, forthrightly against amnesty in any shape or form, many of those illegally in the country now would walk back just like they walked in because they would know that there was no hope of getting that special colored card or getting citizenship. They would know that the only way you get to the United States is to play by the rules. You go back to your home country, and you don't jump in front of those that are going through the process, that are having background checks, that are having their criminal records evaluated so they wouldn't have any. Their health records and their health checks would be undertaken, interviews would be given, they would be playing by the rules.
Another magnet that we must fix is the anchor baby. The United States, unlike most countries of the western world, provides for the children born of persons illegally in this country with citizenship. The mother and father can come here illegally, can be expecting and have a baby across the border in the United States, that baby is an automatic citizen. And if they go to one of the hospitals, and most likely because they are without assets, will be getting free treatment at the expense of the taxpaying citizens of the United States of America. Anchor babies are a huge magnet.
If we want to stop the invasion of illegal aliens into this country, we must do away with the magnets. And we have talked about three of the magnets here tonight. If we want to make America sound financially, reduce the deficit, save money, make our country safer and make our borders secure, we need to say no amnesty, no credit card and no anchor babies. Let's do the right thing, let's save America.
Mr. BILBRAY. Thank you very much. I appreciate the gentleman from Virginia.
Just to let you know, a lot of people might say, Mr. Speaker, how many illegal alien babies can be born in America, can it be that big a deal? Well, let me just say to the gentleman of Virginia, in my State of California, the cost of just giving birth to the children of illegal aliens every year is $400 million. That is just for the birth. Then the parents who are illegally in this country qualify to get welfare payments in the name of their children because we give them automatic citizenship, even though technically the parents are not totally subject to the jurisdiction as required by the 14th amendment. You can't draft them, you can't try them for treason. But $400 million just for the birth. And in fact, just the cost of the welfare, Mr. Speaker, paying for the children of illegals have gotten so big that even a great moderate like Arnold Schwarzenegger, our terminator, or what we call ``governorator'' has recognized that he wants to be able to provide health care to these children, he wants to be able to take care of the costs, but even he is proposing that we now have to cut off welfare payment to the children of illegal aliens at 5 years, not because he wants to cut it off, but because even the wealthiest State in this Union, California, can no longer afford to pay the benefits to illegal aliens that have been going on for so long. It has gotten that far.
And I think anybody would recognize that Arnold Schwarzenegger is not exactly anti-immigrant. He is probably the flagship and the banner boy for the successful immigrant story. But even he has looked at the bottom line and said there is a place where you have got to be able to say enough is enough. How much are you going to take from the law-
abiding citizens and the children of law-abiding citizens and shift it over and give it to people who have broken our laws? .
I appreciate the gentleman from Virginia for bringing that up. And all I have to say is a lot of people may talk about this issue of banks looking the other way and accepting these consular cards, even they are not viable because their argument is, but we are making money. This is America. We are supposed to be making money. This is breaking that fine line between legal and illegal. Those who make money legally are totally separate from those who are making it illegally. And the banks are saying we are getting away with it, so let us keep doing it.
Mr. Speaker, I think you would admit, this is right where the issue of racketeering brought the Federal government in to address people who were into bootlegging, though they were making big money, people that were into prostitution, people that were in drug dealing, people that were involved in the labor market below fair market value. We have laws against racketeering, and these major banks are involved in racketeering. They are profiteering from illegal activity because they are willfully and openly encouraging people that are in violation of the law, working and making money in violation of our laws, and then taking that money and profiteering by cutting a deal with the illegal alien that we will let you be in our institution if we get a wink and a nod and we are able to get our pound of flesh out of it. So I think it is something we need to address.
I appreciate the chance to be able to be here tonight with you. And Mr. Speaker, let me just say that American people may say they hear a lot about the problem of illegal immigration and what do we do about it, but not enough people talk about simple answers. And I would ask you, Mr. Speaker, and everybody that wants to find a simple answer, it is not a Republican or Democrat problem, it is an American problem. And there were two great Americans, one was a Democrat, a former Border Patrol agent called Sylvester Reyes, another was the former chairman of Rules, now ranking member of Rules, a Republican from California named David Dreier, who sat down with the Border Patrol agents, the men and women that are tasked with taking care of the immigration issue. And they were asked, what is the one thing you would do if you had one law to take care of illegal immigration? And they didn't say be mean to anybody, all they said is give the American employer such a simple way as a tamper resistant Social Security card, one document, only one document to prove who is legal to work in the United States and who isn't. Make it so simple for an employer to know who is legal that there is no excuse for somebody to hire an illegal so the Border Patrol agents then can go in and really crack down on those who are hiring illegals. Because the employers who are knowingly hiring illegals cannot hide behind the guise of well, I am like the little guy who didn't understand, it will become so clear.
So I would ask, Mr. Speaker, that you do us the privilege of looking at H.R. 98. Sylvester Reyes is a very respected member of the Democratic Party, David Dreier is a very respected member of the Republican Party. This bill has had the support from members of the Hispanic Caucus and members of immigration groups. This is where Democrats and Republicans can work together, and I think it is a place that America expects us to work together.
And I would ask anyone that is within the range of my voice, call their Member of Congress, call their Senator. Mr. Speaker, all they have to do is ask where the Member of Congress stands on H.R. 98, because this is where both Americans, Democrat and Republican, should be able to come together for the good of our future and for the future of our children and our grandchildren.
At this time, Mr. Speaker, I would yield back my time.
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