Speech #970012514

But it hurt. We have a lot of hard choices facing us in the days ahead. choices that force us to try to draw that fine line between what we absolutely must do. and what we would like to do if we could afford it. And that is the same choice that faces us in the matter of immigration. in the numbers of people from around the world we admit to this country every year. There is not one among us who does not take pride in our historic role as a nation of immigrants. as a beacon of hope and a promise of freedom to less fortunate citizens of other lands. There is not one among us who wants to deny the opportunity for a full. productive life to another human being. But the choice must be made. and the time is now. We simply cannot continue to bring almost a million additional people per year800.000 in 1980 aloneinto the United States. At the moment. we do not have the economic resources to assist all the immigrants that wish to locate in our country. I am therefore announcing today my cosponsorship of the Immigration and National Security Act of 1981. introduced by Senator HUDDLESTON. This legislation puts an overall limit of 350.000 on the annual number of immigrants. with stringent requirements on any proposal to increase that number. it makes significant improvements in border patrol operations. it prohibits the knowing employment of illegal immigrants. and it provides for amnesty of certain aliens with sufficient community ties and residence. The problem in our existing system is not with the current limitation. the problem is in the categories of unlimited admission. the two largest of which are immediate families and refugees. This legislation will continue the rightful priority enjoyed by family members. but by giving them priority within the limitationnot putting them in an unlimited category. This legislation will allow a flexible response to a true refugee crisis and to victims of oppression and persecution. by allowing the President to increase the number of specifically described consultations with Congressbut only with full documentation of the projected effects on the American populace. I do not like living with the idea that the bounty of this Nation is finite. that there are limits on our ability to bring in those people who so desperately want to earn a living wage and live a decent life but cannot do so in their own countries. This bill is a recognition of those limits and it is a commonsense approach to getting this problem under control.