Saturday, May 26th, 2012

Grassley Floor Statement on Economic Stimulus and Illegal Immigrants

By admin
Friday, February 01, 2008 at 12:32 pm

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Floor Statement of Sen. Chuck Grassley on Illegal Immigrants and the House Stimulus Package

Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008

You may be familiar with the phrase "where you stand depends on where you sit." Nothing better illustrates that point than this debate and the issue of rebates for illegal immigrants. We are told that we must pass the House bill, and that changes are unnecessary. I disagree. I think the House bill makes it too easy for illegal immigrants to get rebate checks. According to NumbersUSA, the House bill could allow as many as 3 million illegal immigrants to earn rebate checks.

D(["mb"," \u003c/span\u003e\u003c/font\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp style\u003d\"text-align:justify\"\u003e\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\" size\u003d\"3\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12pt\"\u003eThe House Minority Leader\u0026#39;s\nspokesman was quoted in the press as saying quote: \u0026quot;There is no language\nin the measure that would enable illegal immigrants to receive a tax rebate.\u0026quot; End\nquote.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/font\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp style\u003d\"text-align:justify\"\u003e\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\" size\u003d\"3\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12pt\"\u003eMr. President, there is\nno language whatsoever in the House bill that would PREVENT an illegal\nimmigrant to receive a tax rebate.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/font\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp style\u003d\"text-align:justify\"\u003e\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\" size\u003d\"3\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12pt\"\u003e \u003c/span\u003e\u003c/font\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp style\u003d\"text-align:justify\"\u003e\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\" size\u003d\"3\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12pt\"\u003eMy colleagues on the\nHouse side should be quite familiar with this line of reasoning. They devoted\ncountless time on the House floor trying to convince people that, because the\nSCHIP bill didn\u0026#39;t explicitly prevent states from covering children it up\nto 400% of poverty, it must mean states can cover kids up to 400% of poverty.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/font\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp style\u003d\"text-align:justify\"\u003e\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\" size\u003d\"3\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12pt\"\u003e \u003c/span\u003e\u003c/font\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp style\u003d\"text-align:justify\"\u003e\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\" size\u003d\"3\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12pt\"\u003eThe same folks who want\nus to believe the House bill is just fine said we hadn\u0026#39;t done enough to\nprevent illegal immigrants from receiving benefits in SCHIP even though the\nSCHIP bill had this very language in it:\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/font\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp style\u003d\"text-align:justify\"\u003e\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\" size\u003d\"3\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12pt\"\u003e \u003c/span\u003e\u003c/font\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp style\u003d\"text-align:justify\"\u003e\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\" size\u003d\"3\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12pt\"\u003e\u0026quot;Nothing in this\nAct allows Federal payment for individuals who are not legal residents. Titles\nXI, XIX, and XXI of the Social Security Act provide for the disallowance of\nFederal financial participation for erroneous expenditures under Medicaid and under\nCHIP, respectively.\u0026quot;",1]

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The House Minority Leader’s spokesman was quoted in the press as saying quote: "There is no language in the measure that would enable illegal immigrants to receive a tax rebate." End quote.

Mr. President, there is no language whatsoever in the House bill that would PREVENT an illegal immigrant to receive a tax rebate.

My colleagues on the House side should be quite familiar with this line of reasoning. They devoted countless time on the House floor trying to convince people that, because the SCHIP bill didn’t explicitly prevent states from covering children it up to 400% of poverty, it must mean states can cover kids up to 400% of poverty.

The same folks who want us to believe the House bill is just fine said we hadn’t done enough to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving benefits in SCHIP even though the SCHIP bill had this very language in it:

"Nothing in this Act allows Federal payment for individuals who are not legal residents. Titles XI, XIX, and XXI of the Social Security Act provide for the disallowance of Federal financial participation for erroneous expenditures under Medicaid and under CHIP, respectively."

D(["mb","\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/font\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp style\u003d\"text-align:justify\"\u003e\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\" size\u003d\"3\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12pt\"\u003e \u003c/span\u003e\u003c/font\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp style\u003d\"text-align:justify\"\u003e\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\" size\u003d\"3\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12pt\"\u003eIt\u0026#39;s amazing how\nthe standard has changed, isn\u0026#39;t it? The same people who said the\nlanguage I just read you wasn\u0026#39;t good enough when we took up SCHIP are now\nsaying no language whatsoever is just fine.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/font\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp style\u003d\"text-align:justify\"\u003e\u003cfont color\u003d\"navy\" face\u003d\"Times New Roman\" size\u003d\"3\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12pt;color:navy\"\u003e \u003c/span\u003e\u003c/font\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp style\u003d\"text-align:justify\"\u003e\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\" size\u003d\"3\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12pt\"\u003eThe simple fact of the\nmatter is that the House bill allows illegal immigrants to get rebate\nchecks. Plain and simple.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/font\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp style\u003d\"text-align:justify\"\u003e\u003cfont color\u003d\"navy\" face\u003d\"Times New Roman\" size\u003d\"3\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12pt;color:navy\"\u003e \u003c/span\u003e\u003c/font\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp style\u003d\"text-align:justify\"\u003e\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\" size\u003d\"3\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12pt\"\u003eIt is important for us to\nfix that. We should not give rebate checks to people in this country\nillegally, and we should give the House an opportunity to fix their huge\nmistake.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/font\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp style\u003d\"text-align:justify\"\u003e\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\" size\u003d\"3\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12pt\"\u003e \u003c/span\u003e\u003c/font\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp style\u003d\"text-align:justify\"\u003e\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\" size\u003d\"3\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12pt\"\u003eAnd I can\u0026#39;t imagine\nwhy anyone on the House side would complain about that. My recent experience\nnegotiating with the House on the issue of illegal immigrants and public\nbenefits taught me that certain folks seem to care quite a lot about that\nissue.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/font\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp style\u003d\"text-align:justify\"\u003e\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\" size\u003d\"3\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12pt\"\u003e \u003c/span\u003e\u003c/font\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp style\u003d\"text-align:justify\"\u003e\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\" size\u003d\"3\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12pt\"\u003eI\u0026#39;ll quote from\ndebate on the SCHIP bill in the House on October 25",1]

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It’s amazing how the standard has changed, isn’t it? The same people who said the language I just read you wasn’t good enough when we took up SCHIP are now saying no language whatsoever is just fine.

The simple fact of the matter is that the House bill allows illegal immigrants to get rebate checks. Plain and simple.

It is important for us to fix that. We should not give rebate checks to people in this country illegally, and we should give the House an opportunity to fix their huge mistake.

And I can’t imagine why anyone on the House side would complain about that. My recent experience negotiating with the House on the issue of illegal immigrants and public benefits taught me that certain folks seem to care quite a lot about that issue.

I’ll quote from debate on the SCHIP bill in the House on October 25

D(["mb","\u003csup\u003eth\u003c/sup\u003e of last year,\nand I won\u0026#39;t actually quote the Member by name

The Washington Independent

Grassley Floor Statement on Economic Stimulus and Illegal Immigrants

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