Video: Flashback-Sen. Harry Reid: 'No Sane Country' Would Grant Birthright Citizenship

By Craig Bannister
CNSNews.com

Iconic Democrat Harry Reid, a Nevada senator in 1993, declared that “no sane country” would grant citizenship to illegal aliens and their children born in the U.S.

In a speech on the Senate floor on September 20, 1993, Sen. Reid said America can neither reward illegal entry into the U.S., nor afford to pay for the services taxpayers would have to fund if it did:

"If making it easy to be an illegal alien isn’t enough, how about offering a reward for being an illegal immigrant?

“No sane country would do that, right? Guess again.

“If you break our laws by entering this country without permission and give birth to a child, we reward that child with U.S. citizenship and guarantee a full access to all public and social services this society provides. And that’s a lot of services.”

The incentive for illegal aliens to have babies in the U.S. is both obvious and costly to taxpayers, Sen. Reid said:

“Is it any wonder that two-thirds of the babies born - at taxpayer expense - in county-run hospitals in Los Angeles are born to illegal alien mother?”

 

Bowing to union pressure, Sen. Reid recanted his remarks in 1999, Fox News reports:

"Reid reversed his position in 1999 and apologized for his stance, shortly after the union group AFL-CIO, which holds significant political sway nationally and in Nevada, changed its position to support birthright citizenship. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Reid has since called his speech "way up high" on his "list of mistakes," and in 2006 he referred to it as a "low point" of his legislative career."