Speech #920194435

Mr. Chairman. I take this time to commend the chairman of the full committee and to commend the gentleman in the well. who is chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Nationality. and who is also chairman of the Council on European Migration. The gentleman from New Jersey is one of the experts in this House on dealing with immigration problems. The bill before us today is landmark legislation. It carries out the policy of the Members of this House when they passed in 1965 the Immigration and Nationality Act. in which we forbid discrimination. we rejected the quota system. and said to the world that every man should be judged on his merits and his merits alone. Mr. Chairman. the bill before us now. on the eve of St. Patricks Day. is popularly referred to as the IrishItalian bill. The first of its two major provisions would be of primary benefit to wouldbe immigrants from Ireland. as well as to those from several other countries which have been hard hit by the impact of the 1965 amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act. These include Great Britain. Germany. and Poland. The second and more limited of the provisions would primarily benefit Italy. Both provisions are temporary and would expire 4 years after the enactment of this legislation. Both are responsive to hardships for tending immigrants which time has shown are unlikely to work themselves out without corrective legislation. As a cosponsor of similar legislation. I want to point out that the need for its enactment is apparent from the discrepancy between the number of visas allotted certain countries in fiscal 1964. before the enactment of the 1965 amendments. and in fiscal 1971. Ireland received 6.328 visas in 1964 and 1.077 in 1971. Great Britain and Northern Ireland received 30.324 in 1964 and 8.708 in 1971. and Germany received 28.691 in 1964 and 6.027 in 1971. There was no intention on the part of Congress in enacting the 1965 amendments to so restrict immigration from these countries. and it is the hope underlying this provision that. given a 4year grace period. the preference system will unskew itself as far as these and a few other countries similarly affected are concerned. The second major provision of the bill is aimed at eliminating the backlog of fifthpreference applicantsbrothers and sisters of U.S. citizens. The waiting list for this preference is largest for Italy. which was limited toan annual quota of 5.666 visas a year for decades and. as a result. had a waiting list of 250.000 when the national origin quota system was finally terminated in 1965. More than 100.000 applicants were waiting for fifthpreference visas. While Italy has been using the maximum percountry allotment of 20.000 visas a year since 1965. most of the numbers have been going to the higher preferences. and there have also been additional increments in the fifthpreference waiting list. The bill before us would make a limited number of special immigrant visas available over the next 4 years for fifthpreference applicants on whose behalf petitions were filed prior to July 1. 1971. I want the House to know that if it was not for the diligent efforts and persuasiveness of the distinguished chairman of the Immigration and Nationality SubcommitteePETER RODINOthis most worthy and necessary legislation would not be before us today. Many bills have been introduced in the last several years to give the sons of Ireland a fair chance to compete for immigrant visas to the United States. Other bills have long been pending to give relief to the brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens who are denied the opportunity to join their relatives in the United States because of the long waiting lists. As one who has long advocated the reuniting of families under our immigration laws. I am pleased that H.R. 9615 has finally reached the floor for action. Passage of this bill would help achieve this objective and would correct some of the shortcomings of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 9615 as it has been reported by the House Judiciary Committee. Mr.