Speech #910019039

Mr. Speaker. the 1965 amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act constituted a sweeping reform of our immigration policy. replacing the 40yearold national origins quota system with a new system designed to place top priority on reuniting families and attracting needed talent and skill into the country. The 1965 legislation was both innovative and highly complex. and it is not surprising that. in addition to solving many of the problems it was intended to solve. it has also created some new and unforeseen problems. I want at this time to request immediate action on legislation which I have cosponsored with many of my colleagues. to alleviate the shortage of visas for Ireland and. to a lesser degree. Britain and Germany. resulting from the 1965 amendments. The 1965 amendments established a sevencategory preference system. Unmarried children of U.S. citizens are given first preference. spouses and unmarried children of aliens admitted to the United States for permanent residence are given second preference. members of the professions and scientists and artists of exceptional ability. third. married children of U.S. citizens. fourth. brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens. fifth. needed skilled and unskilled labor. sixth. and refugees. seventh. The legislation prescribed an initial twoandahalfyear transitional pooling period. designed to eliminate old backlogs. After this period. the preference system was intended to operate on a firstcome. firstserved basis. with a total of 170.000 visa numbers available to the Eastern Hemisphere. a certain percentage allotted to each preference category. and unused numbers in most categories "dropping down" to the category below. The transition period came to an end July 1. 1968. All old backlogs had been eliminated except for Italian fifth preference. Italian brothers and sistersa situation which I have also introduced legislation to correct. However. new backlogs and new problems had arisen. The 1968 report of the State Departments Visa Office describes the situation as follows: One of the primary assumptions in 1965 was that 2 years later applicants all over the globe would be getting off to an even start in the quest for visa numbers. In sharp contrast to that expectation. heavy backlogs developed in the third [professionals and exceptional talent] and sixth needed [skilled and unskilled labor] preferences during the transition period. and applicants from formerly oversubscribed quota areas who constitute those backlogs have a headstart in the race for those preference numbers. This will affect primarily natives of northern and western Europe who. until June 30. 1968. could obtain visas whenever they qualified since national quota numbers were available to them in the "nonpreference" category. The emphasis on family reunification further heightens the shift in the pattern of immigration from northern to southern Europe and to Asia. where there is a greater tradition of emigration in family units. The result is that Ireland. formerly allotted 17.765 visa numbers and using an average of about 6.000 a year. was recently predicted by Mr. John P. Collins. national chairman of the American National Immigration Committee. to receive less than 400 visas during fiscal 1969. The legislation I am cosponsoring would rectify this situation by establishing a fixed minimum on the number of visas available to a given country. Any additional visas made available under this provision would not fall within the 170.000 limit on Eastern Hemisphere countries. so the number of visas available to other countries would not be affected. Briefly. either 10.000 visas. or 75 percent of the annual average of the number used by a country during the 10year period prior to July 1. 1965. whichever is less. would be guaranteed to every country. While I am extremely pleased at the increase in visas now available to Italy20.000 as opposed to 5.666 under the old systemI think a system which so severely restricts the number of visas available to Ireland. or to any other country. very clearly needs readjustment. It was certainly not the intent of the 89th Congress when they enacted the 1965 amendments to close the door to Ireland. I urge prompt action on this necessary amendment.