Speech #900314011

Mr. Speaker. it is urgent that the Congress enact legislation to correct unanticipated Inequities in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. The deadline of July 1. 1968. when the 1965 act went fully into effect has come and gone. Now we face adjournment. If the Committee on the Judiciary and the Subcommittee on Immigration and Nationality fall to report out remedial legislation during this session. an injustice will be perpetuated. Although the 1965 act properly eliminated the inequitable national origins quota system. it set up a system of preferences and a labor certificate requirement which has had the effect of barring the immigration of "new seed" stock. Much of the potential immigration from several countries in Western Europe. which cannot meet the qualifications has been screened out. This is no more equitable than the former explicit national restrictions. Despite the assurances of the State Department at the time of the enactment of the 1965 act. immigration from Ireland has been particularly affected. In 1965 the State Department projected that under the provisions of the new act. Ireland would be able to qualify about 5.200 places a year. However. that has not been the result. Irish immigration declined to about 1.800 in 1966 and 1967. The State Department now estimates that. with the new act fully in effect as of July 1. the rate of Irish preference immigration will be only about 600 for the current year. During July. the first month in which the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 was fully effective. there were no preference or nonpreference visas issued in Dublin to Irish applicants. Three were issued during August. And the State Department has informed me that two will be issued during September. That is a total of five preference visas for the first 3 months of the full operation of the new law. The trend will continue unless there is legislative action. Congress has been well aware of the situation for a long time. Some 35 Members of the House have joined me in sponsoring H.R. 16593. or identical legislation. which would insure that no nation would suffer a severe reduction in its level of immigration to the United States as a result of the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. The bill provides that a "floor" shall be established for every nation. based on its average level of immigration to the United States during the decade prior to the enactment of the 1965 act. The floor would in no way be based on the former quota. but only on the actual numbers which came in during those years. The bill provides a floor. equivalent to 75 percent of the annual average level of immigration during the 195665 base period. or 10.000. whichever is less. To the extent that immigration falls below the floor for a given fiscal year. extra numbers will be provided the following year. so that total immigration equals the established floor. H.R. 16593 Is not in any way a reversion to the old nationalorigins quota system. Among the organizations supporting H.R. 16593 are the New York City Central Labor Council. Local 32B of the Building Service Employees International Union. Thomas W. Gleason. president of the International Longshoremens Association. On July 3. the Subcommittee on Immigration and Nationality held a hearing at which testimony was heard from John P. Collins. president. and other representatives of the AmericanIrish National Immigration Committee. who explained the urgency of the situation. It is clear that legislation is necessary. Prior to July 1. 1968. immigration from Ireland was effectively barred by the labor certificate requirement of new section 212(a) (14) of the act. I introduced legislation . as did other Members. to remove that inequity by returning to the former section 212 (a) (14) which placed the burden on the Secretary of Labor to make a finding that the wages and working conditions of workers in the United States would be adversely affected. I also urged the Secretary of Labor to provide relief through administrative action. Unfortunately. neither legislative nor administrative relief was forthcoming at a time when either one would have helped to alleviate the inequity caused by the labor certificate requirement. During the 3year transition period prospective immigrants. who qualified for a labor certificate. were eligible for immigrant visas to the extent of their countrys former quota. Since July 1 prospective immigrants must compete for a limited number17.000 per yearof sixthpreference places allocated to the Eastern Hemisphere. This sets an effective ceiling on the numbers issued to any single country. In addition. Irish immigration will be restricted because priority dates were not established in view of the provisions of the law during the transition period. While it Is important to change the labor certificate requirement of section 212(a) (14). such a change will not now be sufficient to correct the inequities. Therefore. I am concerned about the approach of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Nationality. Instead of acting on H.R. 16593 or drafting other legislation to accomplish the objective. it has announced a hearing to be held on September 18 at which Assistant Secretary of Labor Stanley H. Ruttenberg will be asked "to explain the Department of Labors regulations." The subcommittee seems to assume that the precipitous decline in Irish immigration since 1965 has been caused by the administration of the act by the Department of Laborand not by the act itself. As I have pointed out. a change in the basic law is now required. I would hope that the Committee on the Judiciary would devote its efforts in the closing days of this session to a legislative remedy.