Meanwhile in D.C...
Congressman John Campbell's weekly message from inside the Beltway
[John Campbell] 4/3/06

Illegal immigration: As many of you know, one of my first votes after being elected to Congress in December was the border security bill, HR 4437. I enthusiastically supported this sensible bill to control our southern border and enforce our immigration laws which will allow us later to have more enforceable forms of legal immigration.

Since then, you, no doubt, have seen the "protests" in California and elsewhere. Frankly, I do not see how a protest by foreign nationals who are in the country illegally and waving Mexican flags while demanding their American rights, helps them. Some of the signs displayed during these marches included one that read "this is our continent not yours." Who is "they" and who is "us." Do the protesters really think that helps their case against the border security bill?

Here in Washington similar marches were held. At one of them, California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez told a reporter that people supporting HR 4437 were "racist." When someone hurls that kind of insult at reasonable people, it means that his side is bereft of any legitimate argument on the merits of his position.

This issue is really about national security. Will we control who and what comes in and out of this country or not? You have probably experienced the "full body search" which you may be subject at an airport. Some people are advocating that every container on every ship in every harbor be examined. But those same people are happy to have the entire southern border unsecured so anything and anyone can come across at will. That's nuts.

I will vigorously oppose the amnesty proposals now being proposed in the Senate. Millions around the world long to be American citizens. Will we turn our back on those who seek such citizenship through legal channels and instead sell it for $2000 to those foreigners who smuggle and break our laws to get here? Will we give drug smugglers and terrorists an open invitation to come? I hope not.

Budget: I am on the budget committee in Washington as I was in Sacramento. Wednesday, we passed a budget out of committee on a straight party line vote. The budget is not everything I would like it to be. But it does move us in the right direction.

The budget, which now moves to the House floor, freezes non-defense, non-homeland security "discretionary" spending and provides for the continuation of the the 2003 tax reductions. But since entitlement spending and interest on the debt make up 63% of all spending, total spending grows by 3.5%. But still, this is less than the historical average. Also, the deficit is reduced by about $35 billion.

The Democratic proposals in committee are almost laughable. Their members complained loudly about the horrors of the deficit. Then they proposed 18 amendments to the budget bill. Seventeen of those amendments increased spending. In total, the amendments proposed to increase spending by $60 billion this year. The ranking member commented in his opening statement that spending should really be increased by about $300 billion. That would double the deficit. To be fair, they did propose some revenue raising. But each time they did, they also proposed to spend it all. How does that help the deficit? It is as though the Democrats see the boat is sinking, and propose as a solution that we punch holes in the bottom of it.

The total proposed amount of federal spending for 2007 is $2.7 Trillion. Yes, that's trillion with a "T." You would think that would be enough.

Useless Factoid: Yesterday, according to all the newspapers here in Washington, was the "peak" day for the cherry blossoms. I was locked in committee hearings and can't confirm this. If you missed it too, maybe next year. CRO

§