Speech #930045338

The plan apparently would provide the kind of coordination which is needed. There is. however one fatal flaw with the plan which I hope that future debate on the plan will disclose to every Member. Section 2 of the Reorganization Plan would transfer over 1.000 Immigration and Naturalization Service inspectors to the Bureau of Customs in the Treasury Department. It was most ironic that the Subcommittee on Legislation and Military Operations of the Government Operations Committee held a hearing on Reorganization Plan No. 2 on the very day that H.R. 982. making it unlawful to knowingly employ aliens who have not been lawfully admitted for permanent residence. or who are not otherwise authorized by the Attorney General to work while in the United States. was being debated on the House floor. In subcommittee. I heard testimony from the Special Assistant Attorney General for Drug Abuse Law Enforcement that the transfer of some 1.000 inspectors from the Immigration and Naturalization Service would in no way jeopardize the Services efforts in apprehending and deporting illegal aliens. On the floor. however. I heard my colleague ANDREW HINSHAW. relate the following: When Raymond Farrell. who recently retired as Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. appeared before my Legal and Monetary Affairs Subcommittee of the Government Operations Committee. I asked him how bad the situation really was. He told me: "You can actually throw a rock up in the air in a large city such as Los Angeles and probably hit an alien who Is Illegally in the United States." But what is the Immigration and Naturalization Service doing about the problem? From Fiscal Year 1964 to 1972. its manpower increased by only nine percent. I paid a great deal of attention to the statements my colleagues were making that day because I. too. feel strong and affirmative action must be taken to take illegal aliens from the job market. These illegal immigrants take jobs away from American citizens and legal aliens. Many expand our welfare rolls and their children contribute to the overcrowding in schools. And yet. the President has proposed that we eliminate 1.000 inspectors from the Immigration and Naturalization Service and send them off to the Bureau of Customs. I am familiar enough with the training and expertise of these immigration officials to know that the problem of illegal aliens is great enough that the inspectors must concentrate solely on visa and passport documents. I learned during the debate on the legislation to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act that the number of illegal aliens has rapidly increased since 1965. It was stated that there are presently between 1 to 2 million aliens illegally in the United States. In 1972 alone. the Immigration and Naturalization Service apprehended 505.949 illegal aliens. and 467.193 were expelled. If this body is concerned enough about illegal aliens to pass legislation levying criminal penalties for employing illegal aliens. I certainly feel it should be concerned enough about this program to prevent the transfer of 1.000 highly trained inspectors from the Immigration and Naturalization Service. It should be apparent that there is a need for still greater manpower in the Immigration and Naturalization Service. It was pointed out that ever our balance of payments is unfavorably affected by illegal aliens as untold millions of dollars are annually sent by them to families in other countries. Of grertest importance is the fact that each job occupied by an illegal alien means a lost job opportunity for a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. And. if there is one thing in this country that we need more of than anything else. it is an opportunity for every American to find employment. I cannot stand by and support the elimination of 1.000 highly trained inspectors at a time when we cannot get the national employment rate below 5 percent and when there are unemployment rates of 20 and 30 percent in certain population groups in our major urban areas. I support the Presidents goal of conducting an allout global war on the drug menace. I believe in it so strongly that I am today proposing a measure which will allow us to meet that goal and at the same time preserve the integrity of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. If we were ever confronted with a situation of "Robbing Peter to pay Paul." we are there today. There has been much concern expressed that a vote against the reorganization plan is a vote against strong law enforcement. By using this logic. a vote in favor of the reorganization is a vote in favor of permitting illegal aliens to remain in jobs which could be filled by American citizens or permanent resident aliens. The proposal I am submitting today will resolve both concerns. On the one hand it will coordinate all Federal drug law enforcement efforts as requested by the President. On the other hand it preserves the effectiveness of the Immigration and Naturalization Service in dealing with illegal aliens. I encourage my colleagues to join me in the fight against proliferating drug trafficking and abuse. Likewise. I encourage my colleagues to address the serious consequences which the Reorganization Plan will have on our efforts to remove illegal aliens from the American job market. Both problems must be responded to and an answer to one problem at the derogation of the other is not adequate.