Senate Committee Surrenders America

Senate Committee Surrenders America

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

January 28, 2013

This is no longer the United States of America as it was left to us by the Founding Fathers. As will be demonstrated this is not to be some paranoid rant and screed.

We have a government that has violated the Second Amendment to the Constitution by going on a gun banning rampage which will lead to the slippery slope of firearm confiscation.

Sadly the American people are complicit in this violation by believing the government has their best interest at heart and are able to protect and defend them from all enemies foreign and domestic. This simply is not true.

Why is it perfectly permissible for Barack Obama’s children to be protected by armed security, but the rest of the nation’s children are subject to attending school in gun free zones and at the mercy of murderers? Every school should be protected by trained, armed guards. Are students less important than the banks and jewelry stores that have armed security on the premises?

It should not be up to the government to limit how one protects oneself or their family or property. If a reader chooses not to own a firearm, that is his or her business. If people choose to own a gun or guns, that is also his or her business as far as the Second Amendment to the Constitution allows.

But, as more and more schools decide that civics, social studies, history, and government are less and less important, a growing ignorant society will kowtow to an increasingly tyrannical government that decides the Constitution is mere paper and not the guiding law and principles of a nation founded as a democratic-republic, but something to be sloughed off and ignored.

And while the ability to defend oneself, one’s family, and one’s property is severely waning, the danger to the American people is rising exponentially with the soon to be granted amnesty to 12-20 million illegal aliens, thanks to a bi-partisan effort in the US Senate and so-called Comprehensive Immigration Reform. (Make no mistake, the 11 million illegals figure being trotted out by the Senate and the so-called mainstream media is pure folly and fiction.)

By late spring, early summer, according to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), an immigration bill will be ready for Obama’s signature granting lawbreakers amnesty, a path to citizenship. and thus a reward for their illegal behavior.

This cannot be stressed more vociferously and stringently enough: illegals are in the United States because they broke the law and it matters not what other parts of this legislation are presented, any bill granting even one illegal amnesty, a path to citizenship, ever, should be voted down. To support such legislation will unleash a torrent of support to replace any House or Senate member who betrays the American people – regardless of political affiliation.

Even one carrot is too many when the sticks clearly have not been employed. For me to criticize former President Ronald Reagan, one of my three political heroes, is blasphemous at best. Yet, under Reagan in 1986, he granted amnesty to three million illegals without any stopgaps to secure the borders or prevent the floodgates from opening that ultimately left the US in its current predicament.

Ironically, and mostly hypocritically Sen. John McCain (RINO-AZ) said “We are a nation of laws and immigrants.” It is pure hypocrisy to grant any illegal amnesty and a path to citizenship. If the United States is indeed a nation of laws, immigration laws should be enforced and all illegals deported to their country of origin with the caveat that they not be allowed to return unless in a  legal manner.

A database should be established identifying and monitoring the movements and activities of all illegals. For those who suggest they will be treated like criminals, that’s correct. Yes, this is a hard line on the issue of illegal immigration, while supporting legal immigration of those future residents demonstrating they are deserving of the label American citizen.

The proposed legislation calls for first securing the borders, said Schumer. Fine – pass that as a separate bill, and then let’s talk about the illegals who have invaded the borders of the US. Too often securing the border has merely been given lip service in an effort to placate the GOP, who now, by participating in this bipartisan dog and pony show are complicit in surrendering the country to the lawless and those who would still prefer the Mexican flag to Old Glory as roughly 80 percent of the illegals in this country have slithered from south of the border.

That McCain and his fellow Arizonan, freshman Sen. Jeff Flake (R), a solid fiscal conservative while in the House, would be two of the eight senators on this committee is disturbing knowing the havoc being wrecked on the border by home invaders and drug smugglers.

With illegals already privy to seats in public school classrooms, free lunches and breakfasts for students, food stamps, free medical care and hospitalization all at taxpayer expense, citizenship will only force them to pay for such privileges. They must be disincentivized from coming in the first place and urged to self-deport for those already here by granting them nothing.

Sure, the committee of eight said that illegals would be forced to pay fines, back taxes, learn English, and move to the back of the line before being considered for citizenship, the same committee already included a caveat for workers being able to continue working in the US legally while going through the process.

Back taxes? Based upon what paperwork? Are illegals being issued W-2 forms? If so, under what Social Security number? Sounds like fraud. How will such penalties be assessed?

Learn English? To whose satisfaction? Will there be a test like a literacy test so many people objected to during the Jim Crow era? Make no mistake, learning English is a great idea, as all government documents should be printed in English and English only. It should be a prerequisite for voting and graduating from any school in this country.

Regardless of what penalties are attached to such legislation, anything that puts any illegal alien on a path to American citizenship is simply a reward for being a scofflaw and miscreant. Even those students brought to the United States too young to object or remain in their home country should not be granted carte blanche to citizenship without penalty to the parents who brought them here.

Any legislation MUST include a modification of the 14^th Amendment that grants automatic citizenship to anyone born on American soil – even the child of an illegal alien. Once again, this rewards illegal behavior by invading the United States in order to give birth in this country for the purposes of making them citizens. This was not the purpose of that amendment – ratified in 1868 dedicated to ensuring citizenship for former slaves.

Schumer wants illegals to not fear deportation if they emerge from the shadows. It should be quite the contrary – illegals should fear deportation, as they have broken the law of the country they supposedly wish to join.

Becoming an American citizen is not about financial gain, living in a non-English speaking enclave, and raising the flag of Mexico or some other nation of ones origin. In fact, it should be just the opposite. Taking the oath of citizenship should be done with pride in one’s new, chosen country – in English, ready to defend the United States and remain fiercely loyal to their adopted nation.

And where in this proposed legislation is there a demand for Mexico’s cooperation on the border. That country demonstrates its own hypocrisy by having a sieve for a northern border, yet, its southern border with Guatemala is tight as a drum with harsh penalties for those who breech it. There is no disincentive for Mexico to keep all its people at bay because those who invade the United States no longer are Mexico’s financial problem.

Brit Hume of Fox News summed it contritely, saying, “Has the Republican Party softened on immigration? You bet.” McCain, a RINO at best is a prime example, as is Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), also not a true conservative. On the other hand, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), a conservative and Hispanic who has eyes on the White House, is also a part of this committee and clearly this is an attempt to curry favor with the ever growing Hispanic voting population who cast their ballots roughly 70-30 for Obama in 2012.

Hispanic-Americans should not be supportive of such legislation. Many Hispanics immigrated to the United States and did so the legal way, which in some cases took longer than it may for an illegal to be placed on a pathway to citizenship under this faulty legislation. The Hispanics who legally obtained citizenship should be insulted and offended that lawbreakers would be given advantages not afforded to those who followed the rule of law.

In addition to the aforementioned senators, the committee also includes Michael Bennet (D-CO), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) – each representing states with large Hispanic populations.

While Comprehensive Immigration Reform clearly leans left and Republicans who support it will benefit at the ballot box, it is the responsibility of House and Senate members alike, regardless of party to do what is right versus what is politically expedient.

Visit www.house.gov and www.senate.gov, locate and contact your representatives to sternly and politely voice objection to Comprehensive Immigration Reform. It is vital that this legislation not become law and we the people must play a role in preventing its passage. It is long overdue for this country to behave like the United States once again before it is unrecognizable and too late for its salvation.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.