Speech #960183662

I think it is a question of our capacity. a question of how many newcomers to the United States we can handle each year. It is a question of doing an adequate job and coping with the situation financially while coping with our many domestic problemsand we are not doing all that good a job on those either. Let us bear in mind that this bill as couched raises our normal flow of refugees from 17.400 to 50.000 people a year. We have the most generous immigration policy in the world. Nobody has anything to compare with it. We are allowing in 270.000 immigrants. This amendment only becomes operative when we exceed 270.000. plus 50.000 refugees. in other words. 320.000 people a year. That is over a quarter of a million newcomers every year. We have to cope with this problem both economically and socially. and we have to absorb these people adequately and do a good job for them. It just seems to me that there is a limit on our capacity. just as we learned there was a limit to our capacity to be a "world policeman." At some point in time we have to control it. This bill only becomes operative if we go over 50.000 refugees. and we could go to 200.000. 300.000. or 400.000 refugees under a given circumstance in a given year. subject to the control of the President. [] 1430 I think we have to recognize not that we will keep out the refugees. Goodness knows. we take them in. And this amendment does not propose that we do limit. But we do recognize. with this amendment. some limitation in our capacity. And as we go over the 50.000 refugees. we reduce one immigrant for every two additional refugees. This is not apples and oranges. It is recognizing that we have not an infinite capacity.