Speech #970133597

President. a few months ago I vigorously opposed an earlier version of this bill and I did so for two reasons. First. there were parts of that bill which I had serious reservations about. However. it now appears that most of these problem areas have been cleared up and the bill is truly a noncontroversial one which will increase the efficiency of our immigration system. My second and foremost concern was that the Judiciary Committee had reported out a bill which merely tinkered with our immigration system at a time when major alterations were called for to stop the hemorrhage at our borders. Since there were no serious efforts underway at that time to formulate these major changes. I believed that it was little more than a mockery for the Congress to spend its time approving an immigration bill which did not address any of the major immigration issues facing this country. Although this bill does not make the substantive changes which we desperately need. there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel. Where we once faced uncertainty on the issue of immigration reform. the new Immigration Subcommittee is moving forward with speed and determination. Most of this shortterm turnaround is attributable to the dedicated and able new leadership which we now have in charge of immigration legislation. On the House side. my good friend and colleague from Kentucky. Congressman RON MAZZOLI. is now chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee. Here in the Senate this important area of responsibility now rests in the very able hands of the distinguished Senator from Wyoming. ALAN SIMPSON. With all of the wisdom and talent available in the Senate. I do not know of anyone who is better qualified to take on this responsibility than AL SIMPSON. His dedicated and untiring work on the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy gave him the experience and knowledge about immigration problems that he is now putting to such good use. At the very beginning of this session. the Senator came charging out of the chute and has not slowed down since then. He has set a pace which I believe will assure this Congress of the opportunity of taking up a major immigration bill in the very near future. Since the beginning of the session of Congress. he has held 16 days of hearings and has tentatively scheduled another 3 days of hearings prior to the markup proceedings. I marvel at his stamina. and I can assure the distinguished Senator that his efforts are sincerely appreciated by everyone who has a genuine interest in solving our immigration problems. I look forward to his proposals with great anticipation. However. and there always seems to be a "however." I want to stress again that we must do something about immigration soon. This particular bill before us is not enough. and I look forward to much. much more. Therefore.