mr. speaker , i rise today to encourage my colleagues in this congress to continue fighting illegal immigration in our great country . 
my republican colleagues were joined by 42 sensible democrats to make great strides towards securing our borders by enacting the recommendations of the 9/11 commission with the passage of the real id act . 
as a freshman member of this house , i am honored to have played a role in that process . 
however , mr. speaker , more still can and must be done to secure our borders and combat illegal immigration . 
the terrorist attacks on our homeland highlighted the potentially disastrous effects of porous borders and the need to bolster border security . 
the problem of illegal immigration also has additional far-reaching , dangerous effects . 
ultimately , it punishes all who follow the laws and processes of the united states . 
immigration affects virtually every aspect of life in america . 
i am happy to have supported the amendments of both the gentleman from virginia ( mr. goodlatte ) xz4001540 and the gentleman from georgia ( mr. norwood ) xz4002960 to h.r. 1279 that just passed here today . 
the goodlatte amendment adds 5 years to any sentence for violent crime for drug trafficking when the offender is an illegal alien and adds 15 years to a sentence if the alien has previously been deported for a criminal offense and subsequently committed a crime of violence or drug trafficking . 
the amendment also requires the homeland security department to give the national crime information center the names of all individuals subject to deportation orders or who have signed voluntary deportation papers . 
the norwood amendment requires the justice and homeland security departments to conduct a joint study and to report to congress within 1 year on the connection between illegal aliens and gang membership . 
i was torn on voting for h.r. 1279 because of my concern for states ' rights , but i was swayed in the end to vote for it because of the number of illegal aliens involved in gangs . 
with more than a million legal and illegal immigrants settling in the united states each year , a level higher than at any other time in our nation 's history , immigration has an impact on education , health care , social security , taxes , employment , the environment , crime and countless other areas of american life . 
i sympathize with those who desperately wish to live the american dream here on american soil . 
i understand their desire for liberty , free markets and guaranteed rights . 
the demand for access to america is a resounding testament to the greatness of our nation . 
however , immigration laws exist to provide the necessary steps for safe and legal entry into this country . 
we have an immigration process in place that simply must be followed . 
illegal immigration must be stopped , but we can not and should not close our doors to those who wish to enter the country legally . 
we must increase our efforts at achieving closed borders with open guarded doors . 
