Speech #930120720

The previous question shall then be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without Intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instructions. Mr. Speaker. the proposed legislation actually has its roots in the Immigration Act Amendments of 1965 which abolished the national quota system and established the principles of equity and family reunification as the basis of our immigration policy for the Eastern Hemisphere. These principles have never been extended to the Western Hemisphere. which since 1968 has been restricted to 120.000 visas per year on a firstcome. firstserved basis. The result. entirely unforeseen and unintended. has been considerable hardship for intending immigrants from the Western Hemisphere. The committee in its report cites two comparative examples illustrating the consequences which flow from the two different sets of Immigration laws for the two hemispheres: Under the provisions determining Eastern Hemisphere immigration. the 22yearold British citizen daughter of a U.S. citizen or the Spanish wife of a permanent resident alien would receive preferential treatment over other intending immigrants whose relational ties were more distant. or who were entering under the occupationial preferences. In contrast. the 22yearold Brazilian daughter of a U.S. citizen or the Canadian wife of a permanent resident alien would be required to line up behind all the other intending immigrants from the Western Hemispherenow numbering close to 200.000and to wait nearly two years for a visa. Mr. Speaker. H.R. 981. as amended. also modifies the preference system by expanding the present refugee category to include conditional entry for political refugees from any country in the world. We know that existing law restricts refugees to those persons who have fled from communism or from certain defined areas of the Middle East. The proposed legislation. which would increase Federal cost by an estimated $1.3 million per fiscal year. also includes certain other provisions which are designed to strengthen our immigration laws generally and to achieve uniformity in their application to the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Mr. Speaker.