Speech #970024006

Mr. President. I recently introduced the Immigration and National Security Act of 1981. S. 776. This bill is designed to solve several of the major immigration problems which the United States faces today. One of the sections in the bill would establish a fair hiring system for all employees and employers. In effect. it would make it illegal for an employer to knowingly hire an illegal alien and establish a simple "callin" procedure for determining employment eligibility. With almost 8 million unemployed residents in this country and with the present administration committed to cutting back job training programs and unemployment benefits. the least we can do is assure that all available jobs go to U.S. citizens and legal residents. One of the myths perpetuated by those who benefit from the millions of illegal alien workers in this country is that they take jobs Americans do not want. We are constantly told by these people that the American worker has grown lazy and will no longer take the hard and dirty jobs even if they are paid a decent wage. This type of myth propagation is an insult to the American worker and a recent poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times showed it to be totally untrue. The article reporting the results of this survey stated: In the first major survey of its kind. 75 percent of those interviewed who were out of work said they would apply for jobs paying between $3.35 an hour. the legal minimum. and $4.50 an hour. More than 48 percent of the unemployed Americans surveyed said they would seek restaurant jobs. and 40 percent said they would apply for garment industry jobs. Both industries employ large numbers of illegal aliens. I ask that the Los Angeles Times article entitled "75 Percent of Jobless Would Accept Menial Work" be printed in the RECORD.