Speech #900330529

Mr. Speaker. the act of October 3. 1965. became fully effective on July 1 of this year. The abolition of the national origins quota system and the imposition of ceilings of 170.000 and 120.000. exclusive of spouses. parents. and children of citizens. on the Eastern and Western Hemisphere respectively. became operative on that date. Testimony before the Subcommittee on Immigration of the Judiciary Committee of the House. of which I am chairman. given by representatives of the State. Justice. and Labor Departments. has established the general overall workability of the statute during the 21/2 -year interim period and has indicated that the same condition should prevail hereafter. Certain areas. however. have created problems which could not have been anticipated. because of the lack of definitive data on the types and classes of immigrants which came under the nonpreference sections of the law prior to December 1965. The provisions of the act of October 3. 1965. with respect to relatives of U.S. citizens and resident aliens are creating no problems and will not create problems. except for the brothers and sisters of citizens. Although in excess of 24 percent is allocated to this fifthpreference class. there is a heavy backlog. growing heavier. in this class. Absent a change in the class. there is no prospect that it will ever become current. However. 2 years ago I proposed that special immigrantnumerically exemptedvisas should be made available to brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens who were on waiting lists when the law became effective on December 1. 1965. and who would not have obtained their visas by July 1. 1968. because of the numerical limitations contained in the law. This is a key provision of a bill which I have introduced today to remedy some of the other defects which have been highlighted as a result of our committee study. The two employment preferences. of 10 percent each. are backlogged about 1 year each by applicants in excess of available numbers. I am reliably Informed that a dropdown from the first and second preferenceswhich are more than adequate for any anticipated demands in those classesof excess numbers into the third preference will bring that section current within 1 year and should continue a state of currency thereafter. By permitting unskilled aliens with jobs to have a preference. the law has negated the existence of any nonpreference class and has heavily oversubscribed the sixth preference. By removing unskilled from this class. we complete the task of bringing all preferences reasonably current and lay a foundation for some new seed nonpreference immigrants. which would essentially be composed of unskilled aliens and some few immigrants who could establish that they would not be employed in the United States. Petitions to accord a third or sixth preference currently require consultation with the Secretary of Labor. Within the professional classes the Department of Labor is not best qualified to determine the needs and requirements of this country.