Open Letter to Congressional Delegation

Open letter to Georgia Congressional Delegation

5/18/07

I read today that our two Senators, Isakson and Chambliss are members of the commission that negotiated the new bill on immigration reform. Both of them indicated they were concerned about the border security issue but supported the bill. The statements I have seen indicate Sen. Chambless perhaps more than Sen. Isakson.
I have heard the Democrats repeat ad nauseam that they got the majority in Congress in order to send a message that the war should end. Not so. Most of the people I have spoken to support the idea that the message to Republicans was and is to act like Republicans. Stop being Democrat Lite. Border Security should be the number one issue in ANY discussion about immigration. As far as I can see, this bill treats security as an afterthought. This is not acceptable. Where is it written that bipartisanship is always a good thing? Sometimes (and lately, frequently) partisanship is what is needed. The Democrats have the majority. The Republicans should fight any Bill that relegates security to a side issue. It may be that they lose but at least put up a token resistance. This bill doesn’t seem to address the next 20 million illegals to come into the country. We must stop the bleeding.
We don’t, of course, know what will actually come out of the Senate. It may be that the triggers mentioned by Sen. Isakson, including employer verification and biometric id cards will be in the bill. If so, then and only then is it an acceptable bill.
I try to have an open mind on this but I don’t see this bill as helpful to the country in the long run. The most important issue in the country is the National Security. I have and will continue to support the War because anything else is just wrong. We have a wonderful and unique country and we need to do whatever we can to protect it. I think that the fine young men and women in the military generally understand the importance of their work and ask only for support for those they are protecting. God Bless Them! They are doing a wonderful job in difficult conditions. We must also have an eye to security at the border. It is too easy for illegals to come in--either well meaning people looking for work or evil meaning people looking for death and destruction.
Immigration is a difficult problem. Very few people want to go around deporting mass numbers of illegals. Most people do want the flood to be turned off. Then we can talk about "path to citizenship" and "guest worker programs".
In addition to the security end of the argument, there is a cultural argument. There is a distinct American Culture. It is being diluted by the hoard of illegals that come in without end. Legal immigrants come in an generally tend to assimilate to that culture. Illegals tend to group themselves together and try to maintain the old country cultures. We are in dire need for that to stop. We do not need to become Balkanized.
I don’t know yet where the delegates to the House stand on this, I simply hope that they will understand the importance of standing firm on principle. I have heard that my congressman, Tom Price is strongly opposed. Thanks Tom! There is no need to make decisions simply on the basis of compromise. There is a time for that and a time for not giving up your ideals. It is sometimes better to lose than to surrender. Even better, let’s WIN!