Posted on 05/20/2010 3:40:18 PM PDT by calif_reaganite
Response to President Calderon
House Chamber, Washington, D.C.
May 20, 2010
M. Speaker:
I rise to take strong exception to the speech of the President of Mexico while in this chamber today.
The Mexican government has made it very clear for many years that it holds American sovereignty in contempt and President Calderon’s behavior as a guest of the Congress confirms and underscores this attitude.
It is highly inappropriate for the President of Mexico to lecture Americans on American immigration policy, just as it would be for Americans to lecture Mexico on its laws.
It is obvious that President Calderon does not understand the nature of America or the purpose of our immigration law.
Unlike Mexico’s immigration law -- which is brutally exclusionary -- the purpose of America’s law is not to keep people out. It is to assure that as people come to the United States, they do so with the intention of becoming Americans and of raising their children as Americans.
Unlike Mexico, our nation embraces immigration and what makes that possible is assimilation.
A century ago President Teddy Roosevelt put it this way. He said:
"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language ... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."
That is how we have built one great nation from the people of all the nations of the world.
The largest group of immigrants now comes from Mexico. A recent RAND discovered that during most of the 20th Century, while our immigration laws were actually enforced, assimilation worked and made possible the swift attainment of the American dream for millions of immigrants seeking to escape conditions in Mexico.
That is the broader meaning of our nation’s motto, “e pluribus unum” – from many people, one people, the American people.
But there is now an element in our political structure that seeks to undermine that concept of “E Pluribus Unum.” It seeks to hyphenate Americans, to develop linguistic divisions, to assign rights and preferences based on race and ethnicity, and to elevate devotion to foreign ideologies and traditions, while at the same time denigrating American culture, American values and American founding principles.
In order to do so, they know that they have to stop the process of assimilation. In order to do that, they must undermine our immigration laws.
It is an outrage that a foreign head of state would appear in this chamber and actively seek to do so. And it is a disgrace that he would be cheered on from the left wing of the White House and by many Democrats in this Congress.
Arizona has not adopted a new immigration law. All it has done is to enforce existing law that President Obama refuses to enforce. It is hardly a radical policy to suggest that if an officer on a routine traffic stop encounters a driver with no driver’s license, no passport, and who doesn’t speak English, that maybe that individual might be here illegally.
And to those who say we must reform our immigration laws – I reply that we don’t need to reform them – we need to enforce them. Just as every other government does. Just as Mexico does.
Above all, this is a debate of, by and for the American people. If President Calderon wishes to participate in that debate, I invite him to obey our immigration laws, apply for citizenship, do what 600,000 LEGAL immigrants to our nation are doing right now, learn our history and our customs, and become an American. And then he will have every right to participate in that debate.
Until then, I would politely invite him to have the courtesy while a guest of this Congress to abide by the fundamental rules of diplomacy between civilized nations not to meddle in each other’s domestic debates.
Good work Tom!
TR had a period of clamoring for progressiveness. Roughly from the end of his presidency through 1912, when he lost as the Bull Moose candidate. If you judge him by those stupid years, then yes, he was strictly a big government progressive. But that is the same as judging Churchill by his foray into the Liberal party and his other boneheaded mistakes instead of as a whole.
“Move over Bachmann and Palin,”
Don’t move over, anyone. We need them ALL. And then some.
The fix is in with DeVore....the whole purpose of the Fiorina campaign is to run interference for Campbell....the RINO will prevail again.
As far as Arnold....he’s a left wing liberal democrat....only called himself a Republican for political viability. I’m quite certain he ran primarily to keep McClintock out. If McClintock would have won, he would have been instant presidential material of Reaganesque proportions....something the left absolutely will not tolerate.
I can’t wait until McClintock is Speaker Of The House.
Powerful. Thank you.
Excellent speech by Tom McClintock whom should have been our Governor here in California instead of that nitwit Schwartzinkennedy.
I thought it was ‘Arnuld gives us the best chance to win!!!!’ cry?
Democrats support illegal immigration because it will turn the red states blue once they grant amnesty and automatic citizenship. They’re coming in from through the red states and branching out.
And to the Mexican president, I'd like to be able to tell him face to face that he has alot of nerve coming here to accuse Americans of various offenses when many if not most of his own citizens earn barely enough to survive, live in fear because of the drug running problems and he basically is the leader of one of the armpits of the world.
An excellent point (and overall letter), but I think part of the point of leftist racial politics is to collapse differences among European (or other white) groups and ethnicities: if all whites can be identified, say, with 19th-century British imperialists or 21st-century David Duke aficionados, then it's that much easier for liberals to prattle on about "institutional racism" and "white privilege." Diverse, in their lexicon, means "non-white," and any details beyond that are irrelevant.
I’m curious - was the Mexican president scheduled to visit and speak before Congress before Arizona passed the law? If not, then no one can convince me that this wasn’t planned by the Obama administration to slap Americans once again in the face.
Now with all that knowledge, educate us dummies about the left turn Woodrow Wilson made and how good it was for the Republic.
Popcorn's on me.
I can say that he was 100% wrong and still a patriot, with the weaknesses of modern professional politician : Political correctness and the need to be "loved," and to manufacture a legacy of "tolerance."
But still 100% wrong.
I don’t recall discussing his spending habits. Your strawman won’t work, too bad, so sad.
When you are ready to discuss the FDA, the ICC and the rest of the agencies created by TR and his statist cronies, talk to me.
A friend told me about the interview Calderon did where the interviewer asked Calderon what they do in Mexico when someone isn't legally there. Calderon replied, "We send back them!"
BWAHAHA "We send back them!" Now THAT is a keeper!
“...does not understand the nature of America or the purpose of our immigration law.”
At least half of America and 99% of the world media seems to not understand it either.
Way to go, Mr. McClintock!!! My new favorite person in Congress.
Gotta love McClintock. Current owner of the Republican cajones.
Well said!! I’m glad you are an American! I would be curious to know how/if your letter is received by Mr. Smith.
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