You may have received pleas recently to support Rep. Shuler's "SAVE Act" and ask that your Congressman do the same. This bill was supposed to be recently endorsed by Rep. Tancredo and Rep. Sessions. A quick check in Thomas ([url=http://www.thomas.gov]http://www.thomas.gov[/url]) for the "SAVE Act" garnered the reply,
"3 bills containing your phrase exactly as entered, and 8 bills containing all your search words near each other in any order."
The first 3 are liberal bills proposing to: 1) "save" people's assets from being considered when they apply for food stamps, SSI or SCHIP; 2) "save" local people and communities from ensuring local public schools are safe for their children; and 3) "save" both the FCC and DHS by appropriating "certain channels within the current 24 MHz band of public safety spectrum to accommodate data communications."
Of the remaining 8 likely matches one bill seems likely--the "Save America Comprehensive Immigration Act of 2007." Well, guess what--this comprehensive immigration reform bill would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide "increased protections and eligibility for ... immigrants." This was clearly NOT a bill to support.
The "SAVE Act" that is supposed to provide salvation from the national invasion of illegal aliens, allegedly titled the "Secure America with Verification and Enforcement" does not exist, at least under that name, according to Thomas. Confused yet? I even checked for bills authored by Rep. Schuler (D-NC), as the SAVE Act is purported to be. I searched for the terms "immigration," "border," "enforcement," and "employment verification." Nothing--zip, zilch, nada.
Just think how much potential damage could have been done if you had merely called your Congressman, as instructed, and told them to support the "SAVE Act!" Anyone who's contacted a congressional office knows all too well you often are not engaged in dialogue when you do so. Congressional staffers rarely ask why you want a specific vote; they just thank you and move on to the next call, or whatever other project they're working on at the moment. With 435 Representatives, and 11 possible SAVE Acts we've covered so far, you can imagine the potential for wasted time and misdirection.
I won't belabor the point further, except to state the obvious--it's vital you have accurate information before you contact your elected representatives.
I did finally find the "Border Enforcement, Employment Verification, and Illegal Immigration Control Act," H.R. 4065. The bill Summary states H.R. 4065 will "amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to strengthen enforcement of the immigration laws, (and) enhance border security." But this bill was sponsored by Rep. Sensenbrenner (NOT Rep. Shuler). It was introduced in the House November 1, and has 9 co-sponsors (Bilbray, Coble, Dreier, Feeney, Gallegly, Goodlatte, Lungren, Myrick, and Porter), but not Tancredo and not Sessions.
I talked with one of Rep. Tancredo's junior staffers. She acknowledged they're receiving a lot of faxes on this issue, but she doesn't know anything about the legislation, and the staffer assigned immigration issues was not available.
My initial scan of the 40 pages of text in H.R. 4065 found NO REFERENCE TO BUILDING OR FUNDING THE BORDER FENCE! With that discovery, it's clear those supporting this proposed bill are not as serious as you and I are about defending this nation from illegal invaders.
Speaking for myself, I'm finished with the "Border Enforcement, Employment Verification, and Illegal Immigration Control Act," and any and every other proposed new legislation which will write new laws to solve a problem that could be corrected in a heartbeat if this Administration would only enforce the immigration laws we already have. And that is the message I leave with you.
ACTION TO TAKE
Contact your Representative.
Contact the Speaker of the House, Rep. Pelosi.
Contact the House Minority Leader, Rep. McConnell.
You may contact any of them through the Capitol Switchboard by calling (202) 224-3121. Or you may email them by going to each member's website at [url=http://www.thomas.gov]http://www.thomas.gov[/url]
Contact the White House at (202) 456-1414, or email President Bush at
comments@whitehouse.gov
Tell them all:
STOP writing immigration "reform" legislation. Our existing immigration statutes work every time they're tried, so ensure U.S. enforcement agencies ENFORCE OUR LAWS!
