Speech #970218328

Mr. Speaker. legislation is pending which would amend the U.S. immigration law so that people would no longer be barred from entering the United States according to their sexual preference. Recently. several of our colleagues in the House held a public meeting so that people opposed to the exclusion of immigrants based on sexual preference could voice their opinion. I would like to share with other Members of the House. two of the statements presented at that occasion. One of these statements is an extraordinarily eloquent one from William and Peg Capron of Arlington. Mass. I first met the Caprons when William Capron and I taught together at Harvard University and Peg Capron was active in lobbying the Massachusetts State Legislature on various issues as a member of the League of Women Voters. Several years after I had met them. the question of the exclusion of immigrants from the United States based on sexual preference became an issue and they informed me that their son. who had become a Dutch citizen. was barred by this provision and was unable to come to visit them. Mr. Speaker. it seemed to me then and it seems to me now that no valid public service is served by a law which prevents Bear Capron from visiting his parents. No one is asking that immigrants to this country be given any special privileges nor that they be given any exemptions from the laws that apply within the United States. But neither does it seem to me that it is a wise use of our limited immigration service resources to inquire into the purely private lives of potential immigrants and to exclude. with no valid public policy reason. people who are prepared to come here. abide by the laws. and comport themselves in a perfectly reasonable fashion. I would like to share with my colleagues the heartfelt statement the Caprons made on this recent occasion and also share with them. the official statement of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Massachusetts on this subject. The Unitarian/Universalist statement was presented by Rev.