Dakota Beacon

 Good education aims to produce good citizens long before it offers job training for the future work force. Ideally, continuing education should advance the interests of citizens.
 
 Good citizens pay attention to important legislative matters and voice their opinions to their legislators. The most effective citizens are informed citizens.
 
 In keeping with the spirit of the informed citizen, one of the better websites on the information highway is OpenCongress (http://www.opencongress.org). This site tracks legislation, votes, senators,
 representatives, interest groups, financial contributions and much, much more affecting legislation in the US Congress. OpenCongress bills itself as “...a free, open source, not-for-profit, and non-partisan public resource website." Sunshine illuminates the work of congress. Check out their treasure trove of easily accessed information.

 
 The following application deals with a current major legislative issue. Substantial news centers on immigration reform, or what is formally known as S.744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. Note "Border Security" in the title. More about this in a
 moment. Interestingly, this Senate bill is also known as the Tibetan Refugee Assistance Act of 2013, the Child Trafficking Victims Protection Act, HELP Separated Children Act and several other titles.
 
 Four points dominate the S.744 debate: border security, cost, amnesty and a "comprehensive approach". Despite claims to the contrary, S.744 does not provide for border security. It delivers nothing new. The cost to future generations is prohibitive. It would add trillions of dollars  in Obamacare benefits, Social Security, welfare and Medicare to an already overwhelming national debt. Amnesty is not essential to immigration reform.  It merely serves as a magnet for more illegal immigration and that is not the intention of reform. Amnesty in 1986 did nothing to solve our  immigration problem and it won't solve it now. "Comprehensive reform" was the term used in 1986 for amnesty. This type of comprehensive reform resulted in quadrupling the illegal immigrant population since 1986.  Americans will trust immigration reform once the borders are secure.
 
 As the title implies ("Border Security"), S.744 allegedly proposes to secure America's borders as an absolute first step in addressing any immigration reform. That is how the Gang of Eight framed the discussion and how it is advertised on radio and TV. However, when Senator Charles  Grassley (R-IA) offered an amendment (S. Amdt. 1195) to the 1,947-page bill  explicitly requiring that the border be secured for six months before  America's 11 million illegal immigrants are granted amnesty, Senate Majority  Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) filed a motion to table Grassley's amendment  effectively killing it. On June 13 Reid's motion passed on a simple majority  vote of 57-43 with support from Gang of Eight Republican Senators John  McCain (R-AZ), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Lindsay Graham
 (R-SC) voting with Reid.
 
 North Dakota's two senators split their vote. Heidi Heitkamp voted to kill Grassley's border security amendment by supporting Reid’s motion to table thereby agreeing to allow amnesty to 11 million illegals as a first step. John Hoeven voted to uphold Grassley's amendment providing for border security first.
 
 The test vote on Grassley's amendment says it all. Border security even in the eyes of the Gang of Eight takes second place to amnesty. At this rate our borders will never be secure. This in spite of
 polling data that indicate Americans want border enforcement first by a margin of 4-1.
 
 Armed with this knowledge my wife and I called the Washington offices of both senators to voice our support of border security first before any other immigration matters are considered. S.744 must not stand first as an amnesty bill.
 
 Exercising citizenship is hard work and good citizens act best on sound information. OpenCongress offers just such information in an effort to help citizens sort through media hype and understand legislative issues and senators' and congressmen's positions. Using OpenCongress affords a
 pathway to GOOD citizenship.
 
 Last week former Senator Rick Santorum raised an apt battle cry.  "Wake up America. Our freedom is in jeopardy."
 
 
 
 Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at P. O. Box 337, Stanley, ND 58784 or
 bnt@midstatetel.com.