Speech #960190992

The Finance Committee included a provision in H.R. 3236. the bill we are now debating. to establish a 3year residency requirement before an alien may be able to apply for Federal assistance. This requirement was part of the legislation proposed by both Senator PERCY and myself. it is indeed. a beginning. but certainly not a solution to this bureaucratic "Catch 22." The situation remains where an alien comes to this country under the auspices of a sponsor. If It becomes necessary for the alien to seek financial assistance but for one reason or another the sponsor fails to provide the assistance guaranteed by signing the "affidavit of support." the alien then applies for benefits despite a residency requirement in the Immigration and Nationality Act. However. because there is no residency requirement in the Social Security Act the requirement stipulated by the Immigration and Nationality Act is nullfied. As I mentioned before. the Finance Committee has taken the initiative and moved to close part of the loophole by putting a requirement into the Social Security Act that specifies that an alien must be a resident of this country for at least 3 years before applying for Federal financial assistance. There is no recourse available to the U.S.