infrastructure and civil rights' issues and advocate for broad and inclusive pathway to citizenship. as representative organizations and coalitions we urge you to adopt a resolution that supports a reasonable and comprehensive approach to immigration reform. it's signed the rabbi educational doctorate, executive ios t tire and pedror up and the i want to thank the rabbi for this letter. paid rowry thank -- for co-author thing is this letter. from this podium, day after day after day, they've only been hearing the negative voices. the parade of horribles, the instances when immigrants have failed or have even committed horrible crimes, and some have. but unfortunately it has been somewhat of a less than veiled attack on all immigrants. especially those that came to this country for no other reason than to better their lives and to work very hard so their children could have a better life. and that's the american dream. that's the american dream for all of us, for our children, that we can have a better life. i want to read now from president ronald reagan. again, many of us are very roud of ronald reagan. i'll give illinois their due. he's from there originally. the reality is he's a californian. and you look at the statue here in statuary hall, he's ear has -- here as a californian. so i'm very proud of him, as a democrat, very proud of him. i say that and i saw my democratic friends, they get a little nervous about that, the reality is i'm very proud of him. i didn't agree with everything, obviously, but i agreed with his humanity and i think we'll see that from some of these quotes. i think that's what made reagan a great person. and a great president. was that he didn't stick to some of the tired dogma of others. instead he led us forward as a great president. i quote him. unless the united states makes a more sensible and efficient system for admitting legal migrants who come to take advantage of work opportunities, no reasonable level of enforcement is likely to be enough to resolve this illegal immigration problem. talks to who he was. how true he is still. i also agree with former president reagan when he said the following, referring to the immigration reform and control act. quote, we have consistently supported illegalization -- a legalization program which is both generous, generous to the alien and fair to the countless thousands of people throughout the world who seek legally to come to america. you know what? ronald reagan was generous. and i hope that each and every one of us can have that spirit of generosity, of magnanimous spirit that he had. i'm going to quote him again and continue with his quote. the legalization provisions in this act will go far to improve the lives of a class of individuals who now must hide in the shadows without access to many of the benefits of a free and open society. very soon many of these men and women will be able to step into the sunlight and ultimately if they choose, they may become americans. i thank ronald reagan because i think he was very generous. and it's very interesting how many republicans are running away from his legacy on this. his legacy of generosity. you shouldn't be running away from it. you should be running towards it. you should be running to it. you will be like him if you have that spirit that he had. the spirit of a generous soul. i also want to -- i know i have a few minutes left here and i thank the speaker very much for the opportunity that they've given me here, formerly i don't speak this long. i thought it was important to comment, hear another voice, not just the voice that condemns the immigrant. a voice that says, you know, there's millions and millions and millions of americans out there, in fact a great majority now, that want comprehensive immigration reform that's just, that matches up with our values of a generous people. this is a statement of citizenship from the evangelical churches. this is the evangelical statement of principles for immigration reform. our national immigration laws have created a moral, economic and political crisis in america. initiatives to remedy this crisis have led to polarization and name-calling in which opponents have misrepresented each other's position as open borders and amnesty versus deportation. this false choice has led to an unacceptable political stalemate at the federal level and a tragic cost of human life. a tragic human cost. as evangelical christian leaders, they say, we call for a bipartisan solution on immigration, that again, quoting them, respects the god-given dignity of every person, protects the unity of the immediate family, respects the rule of law, guarantees secure national borders, ensuring fairness to taxpayers, establishes a path toward legal status and/or citizenship for those who qualify and those who wish to become permanent residents. we urge our nation's leaders to work together with the american people to pass immigration reform that embodies these key principles and will make our nation proud. there's heads of the ejanuary vellcal immigration table -- een -- evangelical immigration table. it's very lengthy. i was tempted to read it because day after day i heard a few people come in here and you'd think that everyone in the united states was against immigration reform. in fact, just the opposite. i can read leif anderson, president of evangelicals, steven baumann, president of world relief, christian community development association, i could it it -- i could go on and on and on because this thing goes on for pages. my trust >>y staff gave me pages and pages and -- my trusty staff gave me pages and pages and pages of leads that are signed onto this. so i won't go on and read all the names. but i will say this. that i believe we will come to an agreement on immigration. i do believe that. i honestly believe that. do believe that the prayers that the faith communities are directing toward us, and especially toward the immigrants, are going to be heard. i believe that. i believe it deeply. that this time we won't fail. that this time will be different. that this time in fact we will pass a law that is just, a law that treats immigrants as we're supposed to treat them, as it says in this good book, as our values as americans, i think that we will have a just, a merciful immigration law. and i'm very excited about it. i am -- i wanted to end with a story of a young woman that came and testified in california last year. they called it -- i spoke about it in california, i want to speak about it here because it's one of those incredible tragedies in life. i call it the two days in mexicali and unfortunately for many of us californians, we think about two days in mexicali or two days in tijuana, normally not the two days that i'm going to speak about here. instead, this was a young lady, this was a young lady who was born in mexicali. her mother was a prostitute and a drug addict. they lived in los angeles, the mother born and raised there. she went to mexicali and they had a child in mexicali. she abandoned the child there and this child's grandmother went and found her. brought her back to los angeles. and the grandmother was i suspect a very christian, devout woman, and raised this child in a beautiful way because for 13 years she developed into a very successful student and a very nice person. we got to meet her because she was i guess 19 years old, she'd turned 19, and she had not known that she was an undocumented person. it never came up. so instead she lived her life thinking she was an american citizen. then she applied for college and at that point we hadn't changed the law yet as they had in texas to allow ar undocumented person -- to you a loy -- to allow an undocumented person to get in-state tuition or any undocumented aid. so even though her mother was a prostitute, drug addict, who abandoned this little girl, this little girl grew up to be a wonderful person and then the law oppressed her by not allowing her to continue. we have a chance to change that for her and for so many other people. and i hope we listen to the pastors tomorrow, our evangelical brothers and sisters who are going to come tomorrow to pray for us, to pray that we open up our hearts , pray that we will see the immigrant as the stranger in matthew 25, that we will treat them in a way that is humane and that cherishes our values s americans. madam speaker, i thank you very much for the opportunity today to speak. i think this is a very important issue, an issue that i have great faith in god that will be resolved according to our best values and our best values are those of mercy and i thank you very much and i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. gohmert, for 30 minutes. mr. gohmert: thank you, madam speaker. we know that there is so much going on after the tragedy in boston, where not just boston was attacked by the -- but the united states was attacked by cts of sheer evil, perpetrators who did not care about innocent people and innocent lives. they thought it better to kill, maim, destroy. a sick, twisted, evil human being or human beings would do that. but we saw 9/11/2001 vividly clear. there actually are people who are so radical, so mean, so they o twisted that actually believed they could make for themselves a way to paradise by killing innocent people, killing children, not even old enough to have really done anything wrong. an that is what they obviously felt would make their great mark in the world. i can't help but strongly believe with all my heart that unless they repent and find grace, they are in for a very rude awakening in the next life. it is my hope as well that the individual or individuals who were responsible will be held to account with a death penalty that will be implemented behind closed doors, without cameras present, without an opportunity for them to yet insult or hurt anyone else theambings done enough -- else, they've done enough. we'll await to see who it is that ends up being responsible, perhaps there's an announcement tonight, perhaps not. i am glad that even though there was a person of interest, that the investigators did not rush to judgment on that, that they continued to explore every possible clue, every possible video, photograph, thoroughly doing a good job, it certainly appears, in law enforcement, so that when the evil culprits are pprehended, and they go to trial, and their attorneys are trying to raise a reasonable doubt with a juror, that the investigation will have been so thorough and there will not have been an inappropriate rush to judgment such that a fair trial is had, due process is had and then, making sure that or s indeed the perpetrator perpetrators, then carry out a death penalty. i hope that is the justice that ends up being carried out. in the meantime, we had a gun bill that was voted down, as i understand 54-46 in the senate. it did not pass. t did not have enough votes. with all of our hearts having poured and continue to have prayers and sympathy -- empathy for the people in sandy hook and newtown, that we still had a bill that was being brought to the senate floor that all of the people who supported the bill that i heard had basically admitted that bill would not life. ved a single one would not have saved teachers, those who were trying to protect he children. and in other parts of the world, new york city or whatever, are going to manipulate and use such empathetic ation, victims, they ought to at least, for goodness sakes, put forward a bill that if it had been implemented would have ensured that at least one of the children or adults killed at sandy hook would not have been killed. together et's put laws -- let's have this administration finally enforcing laws that both together will reduce violence. because pushing forward a bill that would not save any of the ives lost there or in colorado just inappropriate, manipulative and the victims deserve better. and i completely understand the families of the victims. the hearts, the struggle, difficulty. i understand. let's not manipulate them for a political agenda. it was on c-span this morning terrific host, i enjoyed being on, but we were talking about border security and the the bill the gang of eight is putting forward. and i know they mean well. ,hey want good for this country ut i'm also reminded of a line that i was told back in the soviet union in the summer of 1973 when i had gotten close to a soviet college student and we had a free exchange of ideas, never put down his country at all, and despite that, he was ordered not to talk to me anymore after we became good friends, because that's what happens in a country where the government becomes too powerful -- can't even choose your friends anymore. one of the things he pointed out. at one point, we were sitting alone visiting and he said, you know -- and he tugged on my shirt and he said we don't have material this good for our individual citizens. we wish we did. but we recognize you have so much more and better things for your citizens in the united states than we do here in the soviet union. he said, but you got to understand that here in the soviet union, since we were formed in 1918, we have had two major wars fought on our own soil that have kept this country just in turmoil. and we have had to spend most of our resources not on such nice clothes or good things for individuals, but in defending our country. and he said this, because we never had two oceans protecting us the way you have in the united states. and i was able to point that out to president bush some years back and i was a freshman here. for most of this nation's history as the young soviet college student told me when i was a college student, you have d two oceans protecting your country, the united states. and he's exactly right. for most of our history, two oceans have protected the united states. and i remember having conversations in the 1980's and 1990's as we would see violence or her places like beirut atrocities and the constant bombings and people being blown up just as occurred in the event in boston and people had actually said, the thing about america is, if somebody would decide to be a suicide bomber in america, they would have to cross either the atlantic or the pacific and they would have such a cooling-down time that even though they might be whipped up into a rage before they left to fly to america, all of the hours of sitting quietly on a plane or days on a ship would be enough to cause them to pause. and when they got to america to think, agh, i didn't really want to blow myself up after all. that seems to worked pretty well. but then the radicalization of muslims got to the point where they were actually able to radicalize people who could cross an ocean, who could come into america. and as the 9/11 hijackers, they live in in here and america and enjoy our liberties and freedoms and enjoy the company of neighbors, share food with their neighbors, have neighbors invite them over and share food and share things. flour needed a cup of and we're such a friendly country. and they were able to live here and too many of them were here expired. nd the visas and since neat they are republican or democratic administration were effectively enforcing visas when they xpired, these 9 9/11 -- 9/11 hailt-filled hijackers kept on a mask that they enjoyed america and enjoyed the liberties all the time looking for the opportunity to kill themselves in a manner that would most effectively kill the most number of innocent people they could in america. it's unthinkable for american citizens. the only thing closely akin that came to mind after 9/11 when some were talking about, you know what? in world war ii, the idea that someone would get in an airplane and fly it toward an american ship and crash their plane into the ship, trying to sink the ship and kill as many as possible was foreign to americans. we couldn't believe there was such a thing. who would do such a thing. who would have that little regard for life and such hatred for other life that you would do all you could, including giving up your own life just to kill as many people who just want to live free? that was foreign during world war ii. that was strange and couldn't believe it. i remember being taught that in public schools and the teachers thought it was so strange and we thought it was strange and now we see that same type of mentality that was told to thomas jefferson when he went to negotiate with the barbary pirates and couldn't understand why these radical muslims would be attacking american ships. as jefferson and the other diplomats explained, we never attacked you, we are never threat to you, why would you attack american ships? and it was explained in our religion, we believe that if you which you infidels, americansr then we go to paradise. and jefferson thought that was o strange. he read it and could not believe here was religion that anybody believed was teaching that you would go to paradise by killing innocent people. that just seemed so strange. and i'm extremely grateful that most muslims don't believe that. they don't believe they should get themselves a ticket to paradise by killing innocent people. they believe in reason and talking and trying to work things out. hey don't want to be ruled and taken by radical islamists either. i have had people approach me airport, but people have come up and indicate, aren't you in congress? yes. 'm from egypt. i was getting ice cream and one said, aren't you in congress? he said you are helping the wrong people. he had family still in egypt and he said you are helping the radicals. you are helping the muslim brotherhood. we don't want them running it in egypt. we want freedom and your government helps the wrong people. you help the muslim brotherhood. he said, please dell others, quit helping the radicals. and i have been surprised that was not the first time, but it was the most recent time that someone turned out was from egypt, muslim, they want to live in peace. they don't want radicals ruining their lives and think it is wrong for the members of the radical muslim brotherhood to persecute, kill, inflict pain and suffering on coptic christians and jews. they don't think it is appropriate. they may not agree with them, but they want to live in peace. and yet this administration continues to help the wrong people. and after i met the young man v.f.w. and i he found out we are sinding tear gas to -- sending tear gas to egypt to help the radical muslims in egypt, like jewish residents in egypt, like moderate muslims who disagree with the kind of radicalism that is being forced on them until egypt, and then we find out this week this administration is sending more tanks to be used to crush those who just want freedom in egypt. . so our allies, the moderate muslims in afghanistan, that fought, many gave their lives, they lost friends and family, fighting the taliban on our behalf, and now this administration has figured -- figuratively thrown them under the bus. friendship g to buy and peace, literally buy it with money, with the taliban. that's not how you deal with the taliban. their northern alliance knew how to deal with them. we helped them with some arms, we imbedded less than 500 special operations people in intelligence. and within three or four months, the northern alliance ad defeated the taliban. and then as i learned in my first meeting with northern alliance leaders some years ago , we told them, give us back the significant weapons we've given you, because we're america, we will make sure you're safe now, we'll make sure afghanistan is safe and peaceful now. so they turn in the weapons, they trusted the united states and now they find an administration that had reviously been offering to buy elegant international offices in qatar in the middle east, to give the taliban, who still want to kill americans and destroy our way of life, but to give them international standing by giving them a first-class office space in an elegant setting. classing them up in their efforts to kill americans and destroy our way of life. and what does the northern alliance get for their loyalty, for defeating the taliban initially, before we allowed them to resurge? they get betrayed. and they have been betrayed. and as they know, as our continue on if we the path of pulling completely t, and the administration -- it was reported that they were offering to release some of the taliban's murdering thugs and buy them elegant offices in qatar, just no precondition, just sit dun down and talk with us and we'll -- sit down with us and we'll buy you stuff, we'll let your murdering thug goes from confinement. we've already done that and one of them was on television over year ago telling afghanistan people, on the most-watched television station, if you did not fully support the taliban, then you have one chance and that is to come apologize to us and under shari'a law beg our forgiveness and ask for our protection and then you'll fall under our protection and you will not be killed. and they explained to the nation of afghanistan, the leader that this administration let out of confinement and now is back leading the taliban against us, he told the afghans that everyone in the world knows that the americans have been defeated and so their president is pulling everyone out, they're running away, they're scared, they're cowards, they're afraid of us, and so once the cowardly americans finish running away from us in 2014, we the taliban will be back in charge and so you've got a choice. you either come back, apologize, pledge devotion to us, ask forgiveness and protection and under shari'a law we'll protect you, otherwise life may not last long once the americans are gone. the message has been going around the world. in egypt, when we turned this administration, at least, turned its back on mubarak, when gaddafi had blood on his handles since 2003, he had been a very important ally of this country, giving us more information about terrorists because it was in his interest to keep terrorists at bay. giving us more information about terrorism at times than any other countries were able to give us. and that was repaid by this administration, helped bomb gaddafi and his troops and support the radicals that back at the time, some of us here on the floor were explaining, we don't know who all's involved in the revolution but we know there are al qaeda elements of this revolution. let's stop, this is not a good idea. until we know who's side we should be on. this administration turns against its allies and tries to buy off its enemies. so, if this administration were going to be consistent, it would seem that the thing to do , the thing possibly to expect is for this administration to offer something as the clinton administration did, to north korea, hey, you know, we'll build you a nuclear plant, we'll do something, if you'll just promise us that you won't develop nuclear weapons. well, we saw how that worked. madeline albright and president clinton worked out a heck of a deal. we helped them get nuclear weapons. because of the naivety of that administration. and now we're faced with a very difficult situation and also understanding of north korea continues on this path and iran is not stopped, that what north korea has iran may have and then no one in israel will be safe at all. and israel is considered in their minds the -- in radical islamists' minds the little satan and we're the great satan. and i mentioned this morning on c-span that we're even -- have been aware that you, you know, not everyone wants to come into this country has wanted to come in for jobs. we know that. most of the hispanics are fantastic people. they want to work hard, they believe in god, they are devoted to family. and that is a bit of a generalization. but it's my hope that that hispanic culture coming into this country will help bring a resurgence and make us the strong country we once were when it came to family values and acknowledgment that in god we trust, as is our national motto. or as ben franklin said during the constitutional convention, i've lived, sir, a long time and the longer i live the more convincing proofs i see of this truth. god governs in the affairs of men. and as franklin said, if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it possible an empire could rise without his aid? we've been assured, franklin said, in the sacred writing, talking about the old testament, that unless the lord build a house, they labor in vain that build it. he said, i firmly believe that. so i welcome people. and i met christian friends that i just fell in love with n west africa and one of them, an elledrled -- an elderly black west african, wonderful, wonderful, man -- wonderful, wonderful man, heart as big as all the outdoors, but he said, please tell others in washington to quit getting weaker because if america grows weak, yes, we know where we go when we die, but if america grows weak, we have no chance at peace. we have no chance of a good life in this world. so please stop getting weaker. it looks like you're getting weaker. he started off by saying we were excited when you elected your first black president. but please urge him to quit getting weaker in america. e need you to be strong. and i mentioned this morning that we have been aware that we've had al qaeda, we've had radical islamists try to disguise themselves as hispanics and sneak across our southern border because, you know, americans have never been worried about our hispanic friends being radical and wanting to kill innocent people to go to paradise. that's not part of the hispanic culture. and i've been mazed since then -- amazed since then that the left wing always wants to try to distort, to create a story -- i have to ed choose my words wisely because it will be interesting to see what the twisted mind of the the ignorance was apparently only coupled by laziness by left-wing media, so they go nuts trying to paint me as a bigot, when obviously they are the bigots. and not only bigots but they're lazy because if they had bothered to even just turn on their computer and use it for something besides mean-spirited , twisted, distorted, untruths, they could have found -- distorted untruths, they could have found this story from the american thinker back august 2 of 2010. and in this story by nora peterson, it points out, it discusses that in 2001 the brother of a hezbollah military chief illegally entered the united states by crossing the mexican border. he then settled in dearborn, michigan, and raised money for hezbollah. 2002, illegal immigrants from lebanon were thought to have ties to hezbollah, were smuggled into the united states via the mexican border. according to a congressional report. then it has this quote set out indented, in december, 2002, deference to the corporate borders appear -- i ll give you the names, but mucharrafille. anyway, it points out that the federal bureau of investigation director robert mueller has confirmed in testimony that thereby investigates from countries with known al qaeda connections who are changing their islamic surnames to hispanic-sounding names and obtaining false hispanic identities, learning to speak spanish and pretending to be hispanic immigrants. this is the kind of thing our enemies are doing to try to bring down this nation and i hope the administration will wise up and do something about it. with that, madam speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain a motion to adjourn. mr. gohmert: at this time i move that we do now hereby adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. . the ayes have it. the motion adopted. according to the -- accordingly, the house stands >> tonight on c-span, reaction on the gun debate from senate democrats and president obama. today the senate held a series of votes on gun legislation. there is a measure that would have expanded background check for all gun sales. it failed to get the needed 60 votes. several democrats talk about that boat shortly after it ote shortly after it happened. we will hear from harry reid. >> last week when we began debate on this bill, i indicated