Speech #970133607

Mr. President. passage of the bill before us today which amends the Immigration and Nationality Act has been long overdue. Similar legislation was introduced in 1979 and was reported out of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees in 1980. The bill has passed the House twice and. except for the problem of time. would probably have passed the Senate last Congress. In this year of fiscal restraint the passage of this legislation is imperative as it is designed to save an estimated $2 million by streamlining certain alien registration and naturalization requirements. A careful examination of the effected procedures has revealed that they are in large part superfluous. providing little real benefit for those they are designed to help. The elimination of the two witness requirement for naturalization alone is estimated to save over a million dollars and with the advances in technology resulting in reliable methods of checking eligibility that requirement is now totally unnecessary. The second and equally important purpose behind this legislation is to reduce the proliferation .of private bills by modernizing the law to conform with the present day problems facing maiy citizens and aliens currently residing in the United States. The provision regarding raising a childs age from 14 to 16 in order to be entitled to immigration benefits along with those allowing the Attorney General discretion to waive exclusionary grounds for those immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and permanent residents convicted of offenses relating to simple possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana would have eliminated the necessity for over 100 private bills in 1980 and truly demonstrates the need for such reform legislation. The section relating to the adjustment of status for certain foreign medical graduates who have resided in the United States since 1978 will allow many communities to retain badly needed physicians and will again eliminate the necessity for the passage of a substantial number of private bills. 1 think that it is important to note regarding the provisions revising the exclusionary and naturalization grounds relating to adultery that we are not. in any way. condoning the practice. We are simply placing discretion with the Attorney General to act in these cases. The changes permitbut do not mandatea finding of eligibility for entry or naturalization. The Attorney General must look at all factors when deciding whether a person meets the "good moral character standard" enunciated in the Immigration and Nationality Act. Presently if a couple is legally separated and one person cohabits with another who is not his spouse he will automatically be barred from becoming a citizen. This change is designed to remedy the above situation. If adultery is found to be the primary cause of the destruction of a viable marriage or is found to result in children becoming public charges the offender will still be found lacking the necessary moral character. I urge my colleagues to pass this badly needed remedial legislation and remind them that this is only the initial step in the attempt to regain control of a problem which has caused great pain not only to American citizens but to those aliens effected by an outmoded. unrealistic immigration policy.