Immigration Debate Heats Up Again

Immigration was a hotly debated topic throughout much of 2006 but has received less attention so far this year.  That all changed late last week when news broke that a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators had reached a deal on a draft immigration proposal.  As of yet, no votes have been held in either the House or the Senate, but the debate has already moved back to its familiar perch on the front burner.  The proposal is several hundred pages long and will likely be subject to many amendments during the Senate debate.  However, from what I have seen of the details so far, I cannot and will not support it should it come to a vote in the House in its current form.

Under the deal, illegal immigrants would have to pass a criminal background check in order to gain “probationary” status.  Then, as long as they do not commit any further crimes and pay a total of $5,000 in fines, they would set forth on a pathway to citizenship. 

In the few days since this deal has been announced, much of the debate has centered on whether this bill grants amnesty to those who have broken our laws in order to enter the United States.  I believe this new system would qualify as a form of amnesty.  Although illegal immigrants would have to meet several requirements, including paying fines, staying out of legal trouble, and waiting more than a decade for citizenship, they would be able to satisfy all of those requirements while residing and working in the United States.  Meanwhile, those who had chosen to follow our laws from the beginning, would be sitting outside our country as they wait for the immigration process to unfold.  Because we would be telling thousands of potential immigrants that they would have been better off breaking our laws, this deal is unacceptable.

House Ag Committee Announces Farm Bill Plans

I joined my colleagues in the House Agriculture Committee leadership last week in announcing the schedule for crafting the 2007 Farm Bill.  The drafting of this important legislation will occur primarily in each of the House Agriculture subcommittees.  The work on the conservation, credit, research, and energy portions of the legislation will get started this week, with work on the remaining portions taking place in June.  Chairman Collin Peterson’s goal is for the full committee to approve a complete bill by July 4.

Latest From the Newsroom…

Click on the following headlines to read my latest news releases:

Neugebauer Votes for Military Pay Raise and Increased Troop Protection Measures
Neugebauer Discusses House Ag Committee’s Farm Bill Plan
Neugebauer Opposes Senate Amnesty Agreement 
 
--Randy