Speech #920047345

Mr. Speaker. I have today introduced immigration legislation which has a dual thrust at eliminating troublesome problem areas in the administration of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This bill. which was cosponsored by the Honorable WILLIAM F. RYAN. Honorable JOSHUA EILBERG. Honorable WALTER FLOWERS. and Honorable JOHN F. SEIBERLING. is a combination bill embodying provisions of other bills pending before the Subcommittee on Immigration and Nationality. Furthermore. it is a compromise bill adapting the floor on immigration proposal to meet a temporary problem which this legislation should correct within 4 yearsthe life of the legislation. The companion thrust is directed at the elimination of the backlog in the fifth preferencebrothers and sisters of U.S. citizenswhich was not eliminated by 1968. as intended. Not until 1964. after four decades of subjection to the principle that some immigrants were more acceptable than others. was there sufficient and coordinated effort and leadership to pave the way for repeal of the national origins system. The impetus in this direction was supplied by the late President Kennedy when he sent an Executive communication to the Congress in 1963. The bill introduced as a result of the Executive communication. was a product of great study and sought to prevent problems before they became evident. To insure an orderly transition from the national origins system to a system based upon firstcome. firstserved. within preferences. a 5year phaseout period was proposed which the departmental experts and statisticians concluded would relieve the backlogs that had developed in some preference categories for some countries. Furthermore. this bill called for a reserve of visas made available to the President to be allocated to those countries which had enjoyed large quotas under the old system and who would be disadvantaged by the change since they could not compete equitably on a firstcome. firstserved basis. simply because there was never a need to establish priority dates and a place in line for a visa. Unfortunately. by the time the bill was enacted. the 5year phaseout period was reduced to a 3year phaseout. The reserve of visas was deleted completely and a new featurethe labor certification requirementbecame an integral part of the act. Cautioned and warned of the problems that could arise. the Congress. in its haste to attain the target of repeal of the national origins system. cast probable problems aside. Today. we reap the result of casting aside those safeguards that were originally proposed in the Executive communication. We find that the fifth preference. particularly with regard to Italy. is oversubscribed and has been oversubscribed and the backlog was not eliminated as the drafters of the legislation anticipated. We find that immigration from Western Europe. particularly Germany. Great Britain. and Ireland. dissipated to a mere trickle. These results certainly were not intended. Until these results are corrected. the great step forward in all immigration policy is harnessed to a dead weight of discouragement. frustration. and dismay. The bill I introduced today is designed to correct the deficiencies resulting from the haste in approving the act of October 3. 1965. Before the Congress can build on this act and approve a worldwide immigration system with workable preferences. or any other legislation affecting immigration. we must backstep and put our immigration law in good order. We have waited for 5 years to determine if the shortcomings of the law would correct themselves. but it is obvious now that these shortcomings will only manifest themselves in greater hardship and unfairness. The only corrective method is by legislation. legislation which I hoped would not be necessary but which experience has dictated has become very necessary. The bill I introduced today establishes a floor on immigration for each country by making special immigrant visas available equal to 75 percent of the 195565 average less visas issued under the permanent provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. as amended. No more than 7.500 special visas can be used by any country in each fiscal year. The bill is temporary in nature designed for a temporary problem and will automatically terminate after 4 years. After carefully reviewing the abundant material and statistics on the problems the Irish and other Northern European aliens have experienced competing for immigrant visas. it was concluded that this 4year period would grant sufficient time for people from those countries to establish priority dates and thus eliminate the unintended inequities. That feature of the bill and the floor provision have been widely and thoroughly discussed. not only in the Congress but by various interested organizations. I think that those of us on the Subcommittee on Immigration and Nationality stipulate the fact that immigration from Northern Europe has been drastically curtailed. We also stipulate that this result is directly attributable to the shortcomings in the changeover from the national origins system to the firstcome. firstserved system. I believe that this temporary legislation will correct the deficiencies that caused the fall of immigration from those countries which have traditionally sent immigrants to the United States. The second thrust of the bill is directed at the backlog in the fifth preferencebrothers and sisters of U.S. citizensthat emerged after the landmark 1965 amendments became effective on July 1. 1968. It had been expected that the 3year phaseout period. 196568. would eliminate any problems from the 1965 act that repealed the repugnant national origins quota system. However. the fifth preference category. particularly in the case of intending Italian immigrants. was heavily oversubscribed. Without remedial legislation it will be many years before the brothers and sisters who come under the present fifth preference can be united with their U.S. citizen families. This bill would authorize issuance of special immigrant visas to all qualified brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens who have petitions filed prior to July 1. 1968. I believe that it is patently important that we solve the major outstanding inequities stemming from the 1965 amendments before we can attempt to solve any other problems in the immigration field.