Senator Jokes About House Painter

Senator Jokes About House Painter

Tuesday, August 22, 2006
By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTONRepublican Sen. Conrad Burns, whose re-election campaign is pressing for tighter
immigration controls, referred to his house painter as"a nice little Guatemalan man"and suggested
that worker as well as employees of a roofing company he hired might be in the country illegally.
"The other day, the little fella who does our maintenance work around the house, he's from
Guatemala, and I said,'Could I see your green card?'"Burns said at a June meeting recorded by
Democrats."And Hugo says,'No.'I said,'Oh, gosh.'"
Burns spokesman Jason Klindt said the worker, Hugo Reyes, is legally in the United States, owns a
painting company and the senator"never had any doubt"that Reyes is a legal resident.
"He was telling an anecdotal story about a time he took the extra step to make sure a worker was
legal,"Klindt said. He added that Burns'description of Reyes as"little"was nothing more than a
reference to his stature. He is 5 feet 3.
Burns, who voted against a Senate bill this year that would have offered millions of illegal
immigrants a chance at citizenship, also joked about the issue at a debate against his Democratic
opponent, Jon.
Tester, earlier this year.
Burns said he was on the phone with his contractor when he saw an interview with an illegal
immigrant on television. The immigrant said he was a roofer and was headed north.
"So I told my roofer, you better go out and get your help,"Burns said."Or you won't get my house
roofed."
Burns'comments come on the heels of controversial remarks by Republican Sen. George Allen of
Virginia, who called a Democratic staffer of Indian descent"Macaca."Indian-American groups and
others criticized Allen for his racially insensitive comments after a video was posted on the Internet.
A staffer for Allen's opponent, Democrat James Webb, caught that incident on tape. Likewise,
Montana Democrats have been filming Burns as he campaigns across the state.
In a video released by the Tester campaign this week, Burns is seen interrupting his own stump
speech at a campaign event to take a cell phone call and then appears to speak to the painter.
"Hugo is a nice little Guatemalan man who is doing some painting for me ... in Virginia,"Burns told
the audience, to laughter, after hanging up on the call."No, he's terrific, love him."
That event was Aug. 15, according to the Tester campaign. In audio tape from a June meeting also

released by the Democrats, Burns is heard recounting the conversation in which he asked Reyes for
his green card.
Matt McKenna, a spokesman for the Tester campaign, said that meeting was held at the
headquarters of Family Service Inc., a Billings, Mont., charity for low-income families. The
Democrats'videographer, Kevin O'Brien, sat in on the meeting and recorded it.
Conservatives and advocates for stricter immigration control said Burns crossed a line with his
comments, even if they were said in jest.
"A U.S. senator hiring illegal immigrants is not a joke,"said Michael Dougherty of The American
Cause, a conservative group founded by Pat Buchanan that supports strict immigration controls."He
could easily dispirit his voting base."

"If you have the very people who are responsible for
making the laws mocking them, it's a pretty good indication
of why we have 12 million people breaking the law,"said Ira
Mehlman, a spokesman for Federation for American
Immigration Reform. An estimated 12 million illegal
immigrants live in the United States.
Efforts to reach Reyes were unsuccessful. Klindt said he
has been in the country for 30 years. He said the
Democrats are"desperate"to take the focus off other campaign issues.
Burns has used the issue of immigration in a campaign ad.
"Burns votes against amnesty,"the ad announcer says, referring to the Senate bill."It gives illegals
Social Security and tuition with your taxes."
Burns, 71, has had to apologize in the past for controversial comments.

In July, he confronted members of a firefighting team at the Billings airport and told them they had
done a"piss-poor job,"according to a state report. The Hotshot crew had traveled 2,000 miles from
Staunton, Va., to help dig fire lines for about a week around a 143-square-mile wildfire east of
Billings.
The crew was awaiting flights home when Burns made his comments. The senator, who has a house
in Billings, said he was expressing the frustration of ranchers who were critical of the way the fire
was handled. He later apologized.
In 1999, Burns issued a written apology after referring to Arabs as"rag heads"during a speech while
commenting on oil prices.

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