Times Record,   Jan. 28, 2005

Governor Calls Bill Un-Christian

By Doug Thompson

ARKANSAS NFWS BUREAU DIHOMPSOti.iARIUU.-SASNEWS.COM

LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Mike Huck-abee Thursday denounced a bill by Sen. Jim Holt that would de­ny state benefits to illegal immi­grants as un-Christian, un-Amer­ican, irresponsible and anti-life. Holt, R-Springdalc, replied lat­er that Christian charity does not

include turning a blind eye to lawbreaking.

Senate Bill 206, filed Wednes­day, also would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and would require state agencies to report suspected cases of people living in the country illegally.

"Somebody needs to ask Sen. Holt what welfare this bill would stop," Huckabee said in a ques-tion-and-answer period with re-

porters on Thursday morning. Many aid programs are state-administered but federally fund­ed and are mandated to be avail­able to people in need, Huckabee said.

Even if benefits to people who are in the U.S illegally could be stopped, "I don't understand how a practicing Christian can turn his back on a child from this or any other state," Huckabee said.

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Holt replied, "I think the po­litically correct movement has misconstrued what compassion really means. They think com­passion means that any person can disrespect our laws and that we're supposed to be tolerant and let them get away with it.

"True compassion is correct­ing them so in the future they can be law-abiding citizens," Holt said.

Holt said he would seek a state attorney general's opinion on what the bill would do if passed. He said he would delay further action on it, at least temporarily, to allow the attorney general to respond.

The bill is modeled after a sim­ilar law in Arizona and support­ed by the newly formed group Protect Arkansas NOW. The group's chairman is Joe Mc-Cutchen of Fort Smith. "I know

COMTINUED FROM PAGE 1A Voters will choose a National Assembly that will govern

the country and draft a permanent constitution, and also choose provincial councils in the 18 provinces. Those living in the Kur-dish self-governing region of the north will also choose a regional parliament.

To prevent major disruptions, Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib has announced the curfew would be extended from 7 p.m. until 6 a.m. starting today through Mon­day.

Sen. Holt and Mr. McCutchen say they're pro-life," Huckabee said. "We're trying to preserve the life of someone who, when born, will be an American citi­zen with his first breath- We can spend $yOO on prenatal care when the mother is pregnant In­stead, this bill would have us take a chance and spend $2,000 a day at Children's hospital if the ba­by's born and something has gone wrong. That's anti-life."

Huckabee said he took excep­tion to characterization of im­migrants in the bill and by its supporters as exploiters of social programs. "They pay sales taxes on their groceries," Huckabee said. "They pay fuel taxes. If they're using a fake Social Secu­rity number, they're paying So­cial Security taxes and will nev­er receive any benefit. It would be closer to the truth to say they're subsidizing Joe Mc-

Cutchen and Jim Holt more than the other way around,

"Something that's not worth sharing is not worth celebrating," Huckabee said. "This is the kind of country that opens its doors. This bill expresses an un-Amer­ican attitude."

McCutchen, reached by tele­phone at his home in Fort Smith, repeated some of Hoit's argu­ments, including the one that the people referred to in Holt's bill are in the United States illegally.

"They broke the law," he said. "My angst is not with them, though. My angst is with the state and federal government for not enforcing our laws."

People living illegally in the United State has "overwhelmed our school and welfare system," McCutchen said. As for whether the bill reflects un-Christian at­titudes, McCutchen said: ")im Holt is as good a man and as

good a Christian as any man walking this Earth."

"Doggone it, the rule of law is not being upheld, and that's wrong," McCutchen said.

McCutchen joined Holt in a news conference last week to an­nounce the forming of Protect Arkansas NOW and to discuss plans to file SB 206. Since that news conference last Friday on the state Capitol steps, Mc­Cutchen was featured on the Web page of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks membership and activities of groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. One group tracked by the center is the Coun­cil of Conservative Citizeas, which claimed McCutchen as a mem­ber, according to the law center's article. The article is available at; http://www.splcenter.org/in dex.jsp

"To anybody who will listen,

pense," McCutchen said. The CCC "asked me to come up and make a talk on illegal immigra­tion. The talk lasted 15 minutes and I drove myself to Virginia to give it. I financed that thing by myself."

A letter of McCutchen's was reprinted in a magazine owned by the CCC. according to the law center Web site. "I did buy a list of donors from the American Im­migration Council. I sent out a letter to about 200 people telling what I was doing," McCutchen said. "I suppose one of those let­ters went out to this magazine.

"That was the end of that, I thought," McCutchen said. "I'm just astounded by the attention this has received. CNN (Cable News Network) was at my home Tuesday aftemoon The very next morning, the Southern Poverty Law Center sent this out and the segment on CNN is on hold."