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June 7, 2008

Rep. Terrill on CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight Show

It’s of course not as big as appearing on fasteddieshairnewsok.com or whatever it’s called, but State Rep. Randy Terrill was on Lou Dobb’s CNN show last night. Terrill, who is everything Fast Eddie and his hair want to be (relevant, well-regarded, important and a real television personality on a real television station,) talked with Dobbs about the Oklahoma chambers of commerce use of frivolous lawsuits to thwart the will of the people. Here’s the transcript:

DOBBS: A federal judge has sided with big business and blocked part of Oklahoma’s new law to deal with its illegal immigration crisis. Oklahoma state representative, Randy Terrill, sponsored that legislation and he said, “What you have is an example of the judiciary thwarting the will of the citizens of Oklahoma.”

Randy Terrill joins us tonight, from Oklahoma City. Good to have you with us, Randy.

REP RANDY TERRILL (R), OKLAHOMA: Good evening, Lou, always great to be with you.

DOBBS: Good to be here. What is your reaction to this development?Are you surprised?

TERRILL: Well, you know, I’m disappointed but not surprised, frankly, at this 17-page opinion and two-page order that effectively enjoins three different parts of House Bill 1804 that we collectively refer to as the Private Employment Provisions. The reason I’m disappointed, Lou, is, obviously it isn’t the result we had hoped for. It will unnecessarily prolong this litigation and almost certainly guarantee an appeal to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals and possibly on to the U.S. Supreme Court.

And also, frankly, this decision is troubling, is why I’m disappointed, it conflicts with recent rulings in other cases, most notably in Missouri and Arizona and even here in the northern district in Tulsa where there was a similar challenge brought against this rule — against this bill.

But, the reason I’m not surprised is because Judge Robin Cauthron, who issued this opinion, is perhaps the most liberal judge in the Western district of Oklahoma.

DOBBS: So, you’re confident that you’ll win on appeal. I just want to point out to our viewers here, that this legislation passed the Oklahoma House By a margin of 88-9, it passed the Senate by a margin of 41-6. The governor signed it into law in May of last year. What has been the impact of the legislation?

TERRILL: Well, it’s had a tremendous impact. Obviously, illegal aliens began leaving the state of Oklahoma, even before the law was passed. And Lou, I think there is no more glaring example of the success of this legislation then the fact that Oklahoma’s unemployment is running several percentage points below the national average. And obviously there are a lot of things that at play there, but one of them is House Bill 1804.

DOBBS: Well, let me ask you this, because it’s the Chamber of Commerce there in Oklahoma, the National Chamber of Commerce, as the plaintiffs in this case, it’s big business saying they don’t want to be responsible for verify citizenship status of employees. I mean, that’s height of corporate irresponsibility.

TERRILL: It is absolutely outrageous. This is all about big business, organizations, preserving the availability of and their access to cheap illegal alien slave labor, it’s about that.

DOBBS: All right, so let me — you said it straightforwardly, but what is the reaction there to business?I mean, you’re state House, the state legislature, the state House, and the state Senate, overwhelming passage, signed by your governor. What is the pushback against your business leaders in Oklahoma?I mean, this is outrageous that you would even put up with their nonsense.

TERRILL: That’s exactly right. And I’ve got to tell you, you’re absolutely right. This bill passed the House and Senate by overwhelming, bipartisan, veto-proof margins and was signed by a Democrat governor. The public strong strongly supports House Bill 1804, in fact, polls by the opposition indicate that it enjoys over 88 percent plus approval. Lou, they even did push polling to try to drive support for the bill down and every time they ask employment- related questions, it actually drove support for the bill up and so, the public overwhelmingly supports this piece of legislation. And frankly, they are outraged at the fact that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has interfered with Oklahoma’s business and that our state Chamber is bringing this lawsuit against a bill that enjoy enjoys that kind of popularity.

DOBBS: Well, Oklahoma represents, now, one of the few states in the nation that really has control of its own destiny. Nearly every other state is dominated by business interest, special interest, and the people of Oklahoma are actually making their will known and making certain their government is following that will. What’s going to be the reaction amongst the public, there?

TERRILL: Well, I think it’s going to be a reaction of outrage. And you’re absolutely right, Oklahoma, as well as a few other states, Georgia and Arizona have captured control of their destiny with regard to the illegal immigration issue. They are now the model states that other states are beginning to mirror to get control of this problem.

DOBBS: Randy Terrill, thank you very much for being us.

TERRILL: You bet. Thank you, Lou. God bless.

Filed under: HB1804, Rep. Randy Terrill — Posted at 8:37 am by C. W. McBlackville Email This Post Email This Post

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