I worked 30 years to try to restore respect for the rule of law because of Ronald Reagan's amnesty in 1986. And I don't want to let this go because somebody's heart got a little softer than it was before the election.
Steve KingAnybody that brings up amnesty in this Congress, we need to just take the scarlet 'A' for amnesty and pin it on them.
Steve KingGeorge W. Bush, another Republican who I probably didn`t agree with on much, right after 9/11 went to a mosque and joined with some Muslim leaders and said that, look, you know, we`re not going to tolerate any backlash. These people who attacked our country are criminals and they`re terrorists, and they might try to profess a religion, but they definitely violate the principles of that religion.
Steve KingI've spent a fair amount of time down at the worlder. I've been down there and helped arrest people that are smuggling drugs in.
Steve KingWhat Planned Parenthood is doing is not the faith that I believe in, but Jesus never ordered anyone to be killed and he never raised his hand to injure anyone specifically. But Mohammed did and there is a big difference in this.
Steve KingWhen the legislation that passed in the farm bill that says that itโs a federal crime to watch animals fight or to induce someone else to watch an animal fight but itโs not a federal crime to induce somebody to watch people fighting, thereโs something wrong with the priorities of people that think like that.
Steve KingFor everyone who's a valedictorian, there's another 100 out there who weigh 130 pounds - and they've got calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert. Those people would be legalized with the same act.
Steve KingEvery Republican that I know of ran on the full repeal of Obamacare...The voters have spoken.
Steve KingThat way when we pick people up there they don't really have an excuse. They weren't out there picking mushrooms. They were illegally in the United States. It will simplify the adjudication and will expedite the voluntary return, and it will allow our border patrol officers to patrol both sides of that wall. And we can put surveillance devices on top of the wall, vibration detectors and other devices.
Steve KingWe're a country here, that if you take a picture of what America looks like, you can do It in a football stadium or a basketball court and you see all different kinds of Americans There. We're pretty proud of that, the different looking Americans that are still Americans.
Steve KingEven though me and Paul Ryan disagree on a whole lot of things, when he stood up and confronted those ugly words that [Donald] Trump said, I was proud of him.
Steve KingSo I think there's going to be a constituent backlash against this thing soon, as they see it moving in that direction...Whether they can pass something before the American public wakes up, I don't know.
Steve KingI`m quite confident that when you spew out hateful [anti-islam]rhetoric, you green-light people who are - who have violent and who are dangerous, and that`s why we have to watch what we say. Words do matter.
Steve KingYou might call that a peaceful invasion [of Muslims] but that`s the nicest thing can you call it. They`re not assimilating and they`re not assimilating because Sharia law is incompatible with the Constitution of the United States.
Steve KingPresident-elect [Donald] Trump has said thousands of times, I will build a wall. He didn't just say he'll build a wall. I'll build a great wall and it will be a beautiful wall, and I'll make the Mexicans pay for it.
Steve KingI hope we are able to shift debate over to the Middle East and change this debate to how we help the people in their home countries rather than believing we can be their relief valve for the poverty and the grief that`s in the world by bringing people here.
Steve KingLa Raza stands for 'The Race' - and they say so openly. They are a pro-Hispanic organization; I will call them a racist organization. They base their philosophy on race. They advocate for those minorities that fit within the category that they define as drives them. They are apologists for illegal immigrants - and we are funding them with your tax dollars in this administration through earmarks. It is outrageous. It's an in-your-face act on the part of this Congress.
Steve KingI think that [John Kelly] will bring law and order. And what I'm hoping for with this is that the restoration of the rule of law, especially with regard to immigration, that is the main principle that needs to be driven by the secretary of homeland security.
Steve KingHow can we be so confident that we are correct about the religion of Islam that it is really different in this insidious way and people 50 years from now, people aren`t going to back on.
Steve KingAll Americans have a sacred duty to guarantee Social Security benefits to our nation's senior citizens
Steve KingIf we have an element of Americans here that reject western civilization, and that's a big element, that reject western civilization, then what have we? This is an effort on the left I think to break down the American civilization and the American culture and turn it into something entirely different.
Steve KingWhich is superior, the Constitution or Sharia law? In Sharia law by their teachings is superior to everything else, it replaces everything else, it replaces the Constitution itself. So, you can`t be assimilated into the American civilization and accept Sharia law as being superior to our Constitution. It`s antithetical to Americanism.
Steve KingNo nation like the United States of America can continue to grow and be a strong nation if we are going to judge people because they disagree with our agenda rather than the content of their statements. We have to be critical thinkers. We have to be analytical. We should understand facts from emotion.
Steve KingEarl Nightingale never let a day go by that he didn`t learn something new and, in turn, pass it on to others. It was his consuming passion.
Steve KingWe should recognize that on the day that we are born, our glass is half full. In America your chance to fill your glass the rest of the way up is greater than it is anyplace else on this planet.
Steve KingThat's the key: get the constitution in place. Get rule of law in place, capital will come, electricity will follow.
Steve KingI thought that conclusion that we leaped to right after the election, that has been disproven statistically so many times, I don't know why Republicans would advocate that advocating for comprehensive immigration reform is somehow a political solution for the Republicans losing a percentage of Hispanics. I probably have less appetite for this than either the Senate or colleagues in the House, certainly the Democrats and most likely members of the Republican Conference. They are still wrestling with trying to get their education up to a level where they can actually advocate for policy.
Steve KingIf I listen to a campaign promises, I would expect that on the first day [Donald Trump] would cancel all of the DACA documents out there that President [Barack] Obama unconstitutionally issued.
Steve KingIt`s difficult to judge people from 100 years ago by today`s standards. But I go back into the early middle part of the 19th century also. The know-nothings were a Protestant movement, and they rejected Catholics and didn`t want Catholics brought into America.
Steve KingMy point is, as civilization is progressing, Mosaic law came down from the mountain, was handed to civilization, it emerged through the Greek civilization as the Greeks were developing their Age of Reason. And we're talking about the foundation of Western Civilization, and almost concurrently with that, Roman law was emerging as well.
Steve KingMuslims are a part of the fabric of this country. By the way, they always have been, and more so now than ever.
Steve KingWe know about General John Kelly's military experience and his record there and being a decorated veteran of combat over in Iraq in particular. In fact, that's where I first met him was when Ramadi was shot to shambles during the surge era. We took a ride around there, even a minaret was shot in half and he pointed to that and said we were taking fire from that minaret. My son took that down with a 20 milimeter cannon. That's my first impression of John Kelly.
Steve KingI'm calling upon president-elect [Donald] Trump to not just settle for a wall.Let's build a fence, then a wall, then a fence, so we create two no man's lands, one on either side of the wall. That way when we pick people up there they don't really have an excuse.
Steve KingIt's the culture, not the blood. If you can go anywhere in the world and adopt these babies and put them into households that were already assimilated in America, those babies will grow up as American as any other baby with as much patriotism and love of country as any other baby. It's not about race. It's never been about race. In fact the struggles across this planet, we describe them as race, they're not race. They're culture based. It's a clash of culture, not the race. Sometimes that race is used as an identifier.
Steve KingI`d like to say is that I am a patriotic, loyal American. I love my country and the values that it stands for. And I am a Muslim.
Steve KingI think that different leaders, whether it`s Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, or Paul Ryan, saying that we`re not going to turn on each other, which is exactly what ISIS wants. I think that`s what this moment calls for and I think, right now, you see who are the pandering demagogues, and who are the people who really have a higher standard and the best public interest at heart.
Steve KingIn the department of homeland security and each agency that's there there's a morale problem. It's a different morale problem in each one.
Steve KingThese two value systems [islam and U.S constitution] do not clash in any way, and my son is a member of the United States Armed Forces active duty. He`s proud to serve his country. And there are many more people who are exact same thing.
Steve KingThe current practice of extending U.S. citizenship to hundreds of thousands of 'anchor babies' must end because it creates a magnet for illegal immigration into our country. Now is the time to ensure that the laws in this country do not encourage law-breaking.
Steve KingIt would probably be a direct order, shape up your morale. And so he understands command. He understands how to delegate. And I think that [General John Kelly] will bring law and order.
Steve KingI think Steve King is absolutely wrong and I just hope that we can try to reach higher ground, because when you are spewing this kind of nonsense, things that Donald Trump says, Ben Carson says, but also [Marco] Rubio and [Ted] Cruz and even Jeb Bush have said.
Steve KingEven Republicans seem to think that these undocumented Democrats could be made [GOP] voters...and what happens is that two out every three that would be legalized [and] become Democrats. And it's not 12 million. It's more like 20 million...But it isn't just the equation of 2/3 of over 20 million that will vote for the guy who opposes our conservative candidate whoever that might be, but it's also those who will leave us if we fail them...We have to go back and tie together and restore the pillars of American exceptionalism and the rule of law is essential.
Steve King