Speech #900146119

Mr. Speaker. on numerous occasions--both in this House and in talks with my constituentsI have noted that. while the reforms initiated in the Immigration Act of 1965Public Law 89236removed many of the inequities in our heretofore archaic and discriminatory immigration laws. the present law still contains loopholes and shortcomings which must be corrected. Numerous barriers still must be overcome by persons desiring to emigrate to our country or to adjust their status while already in the United States. families are still needlessly separated with little hope of being reunited in the near future. aliens serving with our Armed Forces in Vietnam must still cope with lengthy naturalization procedures. A wide variety of other additional inequities in our immigration policy are remnants of earlier. harsher measures. I have already introduced legislation to alleviate the desperate situation of persons presently registered under the fifthpreference position of worldwide quotas. particularly those persons under the fifth preference of the Italian quota. Today I am introducing a bill aimed at accomplishing a series of sweeping reformsreforms which are urgently needed to return the United States to an immigration policy which both serves the national interest and continues our traditional Ideals. At present. if an aliens application for an immigrant visa is not approved. he has no other legal recourse than to reapply at a later date or have a sympathetic Congressman request that the original application be reviewed. My bill will establish a Board of Visa Appeals. in the Department of State. which will be responsible for reviewing the denial of an immigrant visa to a relative of an American citizen or permanent resident alien. upon the petition of such citizen or alien. Refugees are presently registered under the seventhpreference position of worldwide quotas and the number is not to exceed 6 percent of the overall annual limitation of 170.000. My bill establishes a new policy of granting asylum to refugees. removes them from seventhpreference status. and provides 12.000 immigrant visas annually to qualified refugees from all over the world. My bill provides additional means to reunite families which have been separated. For example. parents of permanent resident aliens would enjoy secondpreference status. rather than no particular status. as is presently the case. These are just a very few of the many features of my bill which is aimed at facilitating and assisting persons to emigrate to our country rather than to make it almost impossible in some instances. I believe this legislation is long overdue. Aliens seeking to enter our shores have been humiliated and made to suffer indignities long enough.