Speech #910264052

Mr. Speaker. I welcome the opportunity to outline the major features of legislation introduced today at the request of the administration designed to resolve some of the difficulties that have arisen in the immigration field since the act of October 3. 1965. This is very farranging legislation but I shall limit my remarks today to just a few of the provisions--those which modify the Eastern Hemisphere immigration selection system enacted into law 5 years ago. The distribution of the visa numbers among the various preference classes has not been particularly consistent with the demands for immigration within those classes. This bill would remedy some of these deficiencies. For example. by reducing the percentage of immigration presently available to the first preference class. which now uses only about 4 percent of the visa numbers attributable to that class. additional visa numbers will be made available to the heavily oversubscribed third and sixth preference classes. We have. since World War II. exhibited rather ambivalent attitudes toward the immigration of those with needed skills. In the 1952 legislation we accorded first preference--50 percent of each quotato those highly skilled aliens who were needed in this country. In the 1965 amendment we redefined this class to include only members of the professions and scientists and artists of exceptional ability. More important. perhaps. we not only reduced it to third preference. we also reduced this third preference share of total Eastern Hemisphere immigration to 10 percent. This simply proved to be not adequate. Fortunately. there have been enough nonpreference visa numbers available so that many potential third preference immigrants have been permitted to use nonpreference visas and immigrate despite the low percentage allocated to third preference. Yet. it seems to me to be somewhat unrealistic to have to rely on nonpreference visas to fill our need for people of a class to which we attach sufficient importance to accord third preference status. This administration bill would attack this problem in two ways: It would raise the third preference percentage limitation from 10 to 15 percent. it would also permit falldown of visa numbers unused by applicants in the higher preferences to be available for third preference applicants. The sixth preference -category. which is for workers found needed by American employers. is similarly too small now for our needs. It. too. is entitled to. only 10 percent of the total -Eastern Hemisphere immigration at present. Under this proposed legislation. the sixth preference would be raised in the same manner as the third preference. to 15 percent plus falldown of visa numbers not required for immigrants in the higher preferences. A third area in which there has been shown to be a need for a greater share of the visa numbers relates to refugees. When the 1965 amendments were enacted. there was no major refugee problem before us. and the 10.200 visa numbers allocated for this class of alien were more than sufficient. Unfortunately. they do not suffice today. We have. in the interim. been faced with such situations as the Czech crisis. which substantially increased the volume of people for whom resettlement opportunities are required. Given the tradition of this country for compassionate. humanitarian response to the tragedies of life. we must provide more room for flexibility in the refugee provision. This bill would increase the maximum refugee share of immigration from 6 to 10 percent which. it is believed. will give the Attorney General the additional needed elasticity. This proposed legislation will also apply the same preference system in the Western Hemisphere as in the Eastern Hemisphere. This will permit the operation of the same principles of selection as we have had for the past half century in regard to Eastern Hemisphere immigration. Moreover. it will have particular import with respect to Cuban refugees who have sought temporary sanctuary in third countries. such as Spain and Mexico. At present they must await the availability of a visa number. under the badly backlogged Western Hemisphere numerical ceiling. because the seventh preference classification for refugees does not apply to the aliens born in the Western Hemisphere. Under this bill. 10 percent of the Western Hemisphere visa numbers will be available for such victims of oppression. As I indicated at the beginning of my remarks. the administration bill includes a great many other needed improvements in our immigration and nationality legislation. The few I have outlined are just a sample of the practicality of the measures proposed. I would hope that it will be possible for the Congress to move promptly on this matter. which is of such importance both to our country and to the aliens who wish to make -it their home.