Rep. Steve King: "The Voyage to Amnestistan (Amnesty) Aboard The Clipper Ship "America""

A press release from Congressman Steve King of Iowa concerning the Illegal Alien Amnesty Bill currently stinking up the halls of Congress.

This is one Congressman who understands that this is bad for America:

For Immediate Release
Representative Steve King
5th Congressional District of Iowa
May 10, 2007

Illegal Immigrants:

Stowaways on the U.S.S. America

The Voyage to Amnestistan Aboard The Clipper Ship "America"

This giant American economy is like an enormous clipper ship with passengers and crew numbering some 300 million. We are the fastest sailing ship on the high seas, tempest-tossed by gusts and gales, clipping our way through the swells and spray. The crew of the "U.S.S. America", 144 million strong, trims the sails, swabs the deck, cooks in the galley, cares for the sick, bails the bilge, and steers the course. The passengers number 156 million, including the retired who have had their turn at the oars, the children who will get their turn, the unemployed who want their turn, and welfare recipients who are unenthusiastic about taking their turn. But the largest untapped group by far are the 70 million working age passengers who are simply not in the workforce. They occupy a cabin or bunk in first class or steerage, depending upon their means. Then there are the stowaways- illegal immigrants-totaling some12-20 million. We do know that not all stowaways are working as crew. Five of twelve stowaways are passengers in steerage. Only seven of twelve are swabbing the deck or trimming the sails of "America".

The Open Borders Lobby (OBL) wants Americans to believe our economy would collapse without cheap labor, legal or illegal, and that we must import more by the tens of millions. Theirs is a selfish and shortsighted attempt to expand their power at the expense of our nation's sovereignty. If they succeed in granting amnesty to illegal aliens, they will sink this nation, the giant clipper ship "America".

Two decades have passed since the 1986 amnesty "to end all amnesties". Congress passed, and President Reagan signed, the Immigration Reform and Control Act, which was intended to put an end to open borders by giving amnesty to a million people who were in the United States illegally. At the time, I was appalled that Congress and the President could so flagrantly discount the Rule of Law, that they would pardon a million lawbreakers and reward them with the very objective of their crimes. A million people rewarded for breaking the law!

Years later, we learned the one million illegal aliens, intended to be pardoned by the "amnesty to end all amnesties," quickly became three million. The 300% increase was the result of fraud, accelerated by a counterfeit document industry which immediately sprung up to meet the new demand. Today, there are probably more than 20 million illegal aliens in the United States. That number might have been less than a million if the most essential pillar of American Exceptionalism, the Rule of Law, had been respected and protected from 1986 through today.

Still, with a straight face, we debate granting amnesty to the 12-20 million illegals as if amnesty for tens of millions of lawbreakers was a simple business transaction. A pardon for tens of millions of lawbreakers is not the equivalent of a friendly corporate acquisition of another company. It is a corporate raid on the American people. The stakes are high because America is much, much more than a sanctuary for pirate companies who lure stowaways, and broker the profits from their labor at the expense of the Rule of Law. Then, they pass the billions in added social costs of their cheap labor on to the taxpayer. America may have become a welfare state since Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" was launched, but we have no obligation to issue a paid-up debit card the benefits of citizenship to anyone who was able to sneak into our country. It is not as though they are Katrina survivors with a claim to prior contributions to the system.

Today, the scene on the bridge of "U.S.S. America" is the ship's elected senior officers - Congress - debating a recommendation from the captain - President Bush - that "America" needs more crew to take care of the growing number of retiring passengers. The captain and his OBL ensigns argue that "America" should sail off the constitutionally charted Rule of Law course, to take on "willing crewmen" from the foreign country of "Amnestistan".

The captain argues that trimming sails, bailing, and swabbing is something 70 million working age "America" passengers cannot or will not do. Regardless, they say, we have 12, perhaps 20, million "undocumented passengers and crew"(stowaways) who would refuse to get off the boat at the next dock if we ask them to. But the captain and the OBL ensigns have made it clear they will not order them off the ship even though 90% of the illegal drugs abused on board were smuggled from "Amnestistan". They will not order them off even though 28% of court-martial convictions are stowaways. They will not order them off "America" even though the 7% who are stowaways produce only 2.2% of the work. The Rule of Law officers need recruit only one in ten working age passengers to replace all of the 7 million working stowaways. Instead, the captain and OBL officers want to issue an all inclusive ticket to every stowaway - except those in the brig - so they can eat in the mess hall along side the paying passengers or with the documented crew.

Having charted a proper course, the Rule of Law officers argue the sum total of strength, vitality, and stability of "America" is directly proportional to the average individual productivity of the crew and the passengers. These officers also argue the free market design of "America" requires a higher ratio of crew to passenger and high productivity from each crew member in order to guarantee a far more seaworthy vessel. The only way to increase the capacity of the ship and to ensure safe passage for the stakeholders is to increase the average productivity of everyone on board. Taking on too many passengers or unskilled crew will slow and eventually sink "America". But none of these facts have been enough to sway the captain and OBL ensigns, some of whom maintain a good side business smuggling stowaways onto the ship.

If we simply enforce our current laws, millions of stowaways, both those working and those along for the ride, will voluntarily disembark at the next port of entry. Their departure would immediately reduce the burden on the ship's supplies and crew. Conversely, those Americans who are now riding along as passengers, but who join the crew, will provide a two-for-one benefit to all 300 million. By making the switch from passenger to crew, they will lift the burden off those who are carrying them and help shoulder the load of the millions who would still be passengers.

"America" has pulled into port at Amnestistan six times since the "amnesty to end all amnesties". Each time Congress punched a ticket for the stowaways who were overlooked in 1986 or who qualified due to misfortune. This time the captain and the OBL crowd mean to forever sail off course of the Rule of Law, taking aboard every willing traveler. This time their experiment will be at least 20 times greater in number than ever amnestied before. This time it will truly be an "Amnesty to End All Amnesties". Because this time, if the Open Borders Lobby wins the debate on the bridge, they will sink "America" to the deep, dark, depths of the third world, on the shoals of Amnestistan.

Very nice using the ship analogy.

To put the issue of illegal aliens in perspective, keep in mind that foreign seafarers who arrive on ships calling United States ports are treated like criminals. Most are required to have a visa just to take a couple hours of shore leave, even to visit a post office, get a haircut, or take a walk around the neighborhood. Neighborhoods full of illegal aliens.

Better yet, if amnesty is granted, then ports will be able to hire these illegal aliens to post guard on the ships to ensure that the sailors don't sneak ashore.

US Congressman Steve King
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