Aren't we all lucky to have representatives like Jim Kolbe to guide those of us who aren't smart enough to know what's going on! Let's just give this guy a life-time seat in the House of Representatives!

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Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., whose Tucson district has the highest number of illegal crossings of any place in the country -- over half a million apprehensions last year -- said the chaos at the border is real enough.

"The issues are from something as simple but important as physical environmental degradation, people abandoning their shirts and coats and water jugs, the plastic and paper strewn over the desert, causing environmental damage, to the most serious, people losing their lives, dying in the heat of the desert, especially with the summer starting. And then there's everything in between, from vandalism to auto thefts to the consternation and fear of people streaming through yards at night and cutting up fences."

Kolbe is a chief sponsor of legislation that the Senate bill is largely modeled on but that was not allowed a vote in the House. He said he faces tremendous local opposition to his approach of offering a path to legalization for those already in the country illegally.

"But I know it's right," Kolbe said. "I know you can talk about just enforcement, but it won't work" unless it is coupled with some kind of path to legal residence and expanded legal entry.