Most previous immigrants came to the United States to become Americans, with no intention of returning home. They relinquished their ties with their homeland. English was their key to prosperity, and they worked hard to master it.

More than one-third of Mexicans in the United States own property in Mexico, nearly 80 percent send money home and 25 percent have a spouse in Mexico. Assimilation and becoming an American citizen are not the objective for many of them.

The responsible elite in China has no intention of picking a fight with the United States. But no one has much hope that the two countries can develop deep feelings of trust, either.

Under current law, there is no additional penalty for someone who enters the United States illegally and then commits either a crime of violence or a drug trafficking offense. They simply come under the same penalty as we have in current law.

The prosperity of the United States and the prosperity of the Hispanic community, as the fastest-growing community, are one and the same. The destinies are one and the same.

It is time, as a matter of pride, as well as a matter of national security, for the United States of America to lead the world in the energy revolution, and not lag behind Japan or Germany