Speech #970224167

I thank the Senator from North Carolina for yielding. and I wish to express my support for the amendment offered by my good colleagues. Senators HELMS and EAST. and in expressing my support for this amendment which deletes from S. 2222 the provision granting amnesty to illegal aliens. I do not detract in any way from the monumental efforts made by Senator SIMPSON and others. and I voice the great admiration for the job that Senator SIMPSON has done and others on the committee. the distinguished Senators who brought this bill to this committee because I realize this has been a very long and difficult task for them and it has certainly been that I know for many of them. particularly Senator SIMPSON working on this issue coming from a Western State. In a bill as comprehensive as this it does create a lot of disagreement as to the approach and the degrees of minor subjects. But I do believe. as Senator HELMS and Senator EAST have pointed out. that total blanket amnesty goes a little too far in this bill for illegal aliens residing in the United States prior to January 31. It is a subject that. in my opinion. strikes right at the core of our national immigration policy. The problem. of course. is that we currently have residing. as has been talked about here. anywhere from 3.5 to 15 million people in the country. and the problem will further be compounded by the fact that to date we have not been able to devise a method of gathering and deporting these people. It seems to be an insoluble problem. But we are just talking about defining it out of existence by granting blanket amnesty.