Community Safety and Security Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Texas for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 6691, the Community Safety and Security Act of 2018.

Mr. Speaker, I want to bring to my colleague's attention an issue I don't think the majority considered when rushing this bill to the floor without any hearings or markup. They departed from regular order, and doing so always has some, I think, unintended consequences.

H.R. 6691 will help deport veterans, people who have served in our military and often who have served in combat. Current law makes certain crimes a deportable offense for legal permanent residents. For the thousands of servicemembers and veterans who are legal permanent residents, this bill will make it easier to deport them.

If a soldier comes home with PTSD or if a veteran is struggling with substance abuse or gets in trouble with the law, this bill makes it harder to grant them any kind of discretion.

I have met with dozens of deported veterans who have served their country honorably, even been to war, but were deported when they came home. They made mistakes. They paid their debt to society, and their service meant nothing when it came time to permanently banish them from our country.

Now, that is unfair. It is cruel and unusual punishment. I believe that if anyone deserves a second chance in our country, it is our veterans.

Now, I agree with many of my colleagues that the Supreme Court is right and that we need to change the vagueness in the current law; however, we need to do that through regular order. This bill would classify certain crimes as violent, even if no one was harmed in the act. These are serious issues and they deserve a serious process.

Mr. Speaker, this bill will have many unintended consequences if made into law. I implore my colleagues to vote against it and have it go through regular order and get the hearings that it merits.

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