Speech #920000690

Mr. Speaker. today I reintroduced a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act in order to undo the harm done by the 1965 immigration amendments regarding the labor certification requirement. Prior to December 1. 1965. an alien seeking to enter the U.S. labor market could be excluded if the Secretary of Labor certified that workers in this country were available to perform the job he was seeking. or if employment of the alien would adversely affect the working conditions of resident workers. The labor certification in the present legislationsection 212 (a) (14) excludes: Aliens seeking to enter the United States. for the purpose of performing skilled or unskilled labor. unless the Secretary of Labor has determined and certified to the Secretary of State and to the Attorney General that. first. there are not sufficient workers in the United States who are able. willing. qualified. and available at the time of application for a visa and admission to the United States and at the place to which the alien is destined to preform such skilled or unskilled labor. and second. the employment of such aliens will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of the workers in the United States similarly employed. In other words. under the current law. it rests with the alien to prove that his addition to the labor force will not be harmful to the U.S. economy. This is expensive and time consuming for the alien. and it is also unnecessary and unjustified. In the legislation before its amendment in 1965. the burden of proof rested. as it should with the Secretary of Labor. Under both laws. no alien would be admitted if his addition to the labor force would adversely affect wages or other working conditions. However. the current law. under which every application for alien employment is carefully scrutinized. has resulted in a form of discrimination as insidious in its own way as was the old national origins quota system which the 1965 amendments repealed. We are saying to the young man who would do anything for an opportunity to come to this country and make his fortune that the golden gate is closed. He must. in effect. make something of himself before he comes here. or we do not want him. This flies directly in the face of our traditional immigration policy. under which this Nation was formed. and it makes a mockery of the famous words engraved on the base of the Statue of Liberty. It also most directly and unfortunately effects the nations which have contributed so much to the formation of our country. I have in mind. for instance. Ireland. and Germany. Immigrants from these countries. as well as from others. traditionally have come here with the hope for a better life. Further. they have tended to come aloneseeking to begin a new life hereand thus the family reunification preference categories. which do not require labor certification. are seldom applicable. According to the State Departments Visa Office. the Irish immigration rate has fallen from 5.378 in 1965. when the old law was discontinued. to 1.178 in 1970. which is a 78percent drop in immigration. The German immigration rate has fallen from 25.171 in 1965 to 8.408 in 1970. which is a 66percent drop in immigration. It is obvious from these figures that the labor certification requirement in the 1965 immigration amendments has drastically curtailed immigration from those countries which depend heavily on labor preference. rather than preference for U.S. relatives. for immigration. Our countrys greatness has been built on the contribution of its immigrants. Continued reduction of labor immigrants can only result in restricting the growth and prosperity of our Nation. This flaw in the new immigration law must be eliminated. The provision of the old law. which I ask to be reinstated. has survived the test of time. It has workedand worked welland only by returning to it can we further strengthen our new immigration law.