Speech #930121155

Now. I would say. in commenting on an identical proposal in the past Congress. that the Department of Justice took this view and stated as follows: The purpose of this change is to enlarge the opportunities for American employers to obtain needed temporary labor through lawful processes. with safeguards to American labor. Although this change would entail greater vigilance on the part of consular and immigration officers to determine whether the beneficiaries of H2 petitions are bona fide nonimmigrants. it would provide flexibility in fulfilling the needs of American employers. and in diminishing the incentive to use workers who are illegally in the United States. In commenting on the same subject. the Department of State asserted as follows: The Department does recognize that these will be occasions in which there is a legitimate need for the temporary services of such aliens due to a temporary unavailability of qualified workers. either regionally or on a nationwide basis. In each of these cases. however. the Departments of State and Justice deferred to the Department of Labor for their views. Mr. Chairman. I would like to say that during our illegal alien hearings we found a large number of illegal aliens were employed in occupations for which American workers could not be found. We found this not only in our hearings. but in our everyday activities in the Congress of the United States. Many of my colleagues were coming to me and telling me about the need for busboys. waiters and waitresses. bartenders. cooks. dishwashers. carhops. maids. parking lot attendants. janitors. cowboys and ranchhands. counter workers. woodcutters. auto mechanics and repairmen. seamstresses. laundry workersand I could go on and on.