Speech #890120702

Mr. Chairman. as many Members have pointed out to the House. this bill is a product of long hours of study. debate. and proper review by the Judiciary Committee and especially its Immigration Subcommittee chaired by the distinguished gentleman from Ohio. MICHAEL FEIGHAN. It should be pointed out that the ranking Republican member of the Immigration Subcommittee. Congressman ARCH MOORE. of West Virginia. was especially helpful in the major contributions which he made to this bill. Without the patience and persistance of Congressman MOORE. the bill which we are passing today might never have materialized. Mr. Chairman. my grandparents were immigrants from Poland. As a matter of fact. my mother was an immigrant. having entered this country as an infant before her first birthday. I have worked closely with Americans who came to this country as immigrants and can bear witness to the progressive contributions they have made to the American scene. This is one of the many reasons why I feel this Immigration bill is an overdue effort by Congress to give practical emphasis to once and for all solving the problems of our immigration processes. It is a good bill and deserves the overwhelming support of the Members of the House. The major contribution of the bill Is the repeal of the national origins quota system which is archaic. discriminatory. and has become clearly unworkable. The bill Instead sets up a very practical system of preferences in which the primary emphasis will be upon reuniting of families. MJay I point out that it provides for a 3year phaseout of the national origins system in which unused quota numbers will be reallocated to those countries with large registration backlogs. This is a very practical and fair process of adjustment. Members who have struggled for years with private bills and other technical complications caused by the present immigration law must certainly appreciate the wisdom and practicality of this proposal before us. It is especially significant that this bill is being processed without any real opposition either in or outside the House. which dramatizes public acceptance of the practical nature of this new immigration law. This bill. I emphasize. is very constructive and long overdue legislation and should be supported by the Members of the House. It is my hope that the Senate will act with more than its usual dispatch and pass an immigration bill prior to congressional adjournment next month. Mr. Chairman. I rise to support this bill but would suggest to the Members that they give every practical and fair consideration to the MacGregor amendment. I feel that the best course of action that the House could take this afternoon Is to adopt the MacGregor amendment and then overwhelmingly give support to this billwith perhaps a special message to the other body that we hope they would proceed faster than they normally do so that one of the accomplishments of this session of the Congress would be the final passage of an immigration bill. Mr. Chairman. the details of the bill and now the details of the MacGregor amendment have been discussed I believe in a sufficient manner.