Speech #930120748

Chairman. I rise in support of the pending measure. H.R. 981. the proposed Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1973. The main purpose of the bill Is to extend to the Western Hemisphere the sevencategory preference system and the 20.000 per country annual visa limit which are now in effect for the Eastern Hemisphere. When the national origins quota system was abolished by the 1965 Immigration Act. Congress neglected to establish per country limits and preference systems for the Western Hemisphere. although they were established for the Eastern Hemisphere. This oversight has resulted in an extensive backlog of nearly 200.000 cases and has had an adverse effect on western hemispheric relations. To obtain a visa number this month. for example. Western Hemisphere intended immigrants would need a petition approved before October 15. 1971. The legislation under consideration seeks to alleviate this situation. By adoption of a preference system. September 25. Y973 immigrant applications will be processed more rapidly. thereby easing the tremendous backlog of cases. As it stands now. the Canadian wife of a U.S. citizen must wait the same length of time for admittance as does a Canadian immi-. grant with no relatives in this country. At the same time. the Spanishcitizen daughter of a U.S.-citizen receives preferential treatment over another Spanish immigrant whose only tie to the United States is a distant relative. Thus. the. preference system will serve to establish a more rational and consistent policy toward both hemispheres. H.R. 981 will retain separate hemispheric ceilings--170.000 for the Eastern Hemisphere and 120.000 for the Western Hemispherefor two reasons: First. to. keep immigration quotas at their present levels. and second. to postpone the establishment of worldwide ceilings until the effects of Western Hemisphere preference and per country limits can be assessed more fully. The issue of applying a 20.000 limit to Canada and Mexico is admittedly controversial. However. it is a necessary step if we are to put an end to an immigration. system based on nationality. For this reason. the bill does not extend preferential treatment to either Canada or Mexico. and thus forms the basis for equal opportunities for all immigrants. In summary. H.R. 981 would apply a preference system to the Western Hemisphere immigrants. thus helping to alleviate the aggravation. frustration. and secondclass treatment with which our neighbors in our half of the world have had to contend in order to gain admittance to the United States. This legislation represents an attempt to establish an immigration system that is consistent in both theory and practice. In 1965. when Congress overhauled the immigration system completely. immigrants from Asian countries began to have opportunities to settle in America on the same basis as those from Europe had enjoyed for decades. Just as those 1965 amendments signaled the end of discrimination against Asianborn immigrants.. so will the enactment of H.R. 981 signal the end of our irrational system for dealing with intended immigrants from the Western Hemisphere. I urge its passage.