Speech #970273173

Mr. Chairman. I commend the committee chairman. the subcommittee chairman. the ranking minority member. and all of the members who have worked so diligently to try to bring about a change in immigration laws that is long overdue. It is 17 years since we have had that. I rise also to indicate that I do oppose one portion of this bill. the amnesty provisions. Mr. Chairman. In the last days of the special session. this body will likely consider the Immigration Reform Act. H.R. 7357. This is a very complex and farreaching piece of legislationthe first major overhaul of our immigration laws in well over a decadewhich has broad implications for all regions of our country and. I believe. contains serious defects which severely undercut the many positive features of this bill. The provisions granting amnesty to the unknown millions of illegal aliens who were here before January 1. 1980. could be the albatross of this bill for several reasons. First. there is the obvious element of unfairness for those who have exhaustingly. and many times unsuccessfully. sought entrance to America through the proper legal channels. Our Nation has perhaps the most open and generous immigration policies in the world. yet many people must wait months. and even years. before our vastly undermanned and underbudgeted Immigration and Naturalization Service processes them through. Second. there is the very clear signal a "onetime" mass amnesty program sends to prospective illegal immigrants. It is without question a reward for those who have doggedly violated our Nations laws. many of them more than once. rather than pursuing the legal course. Amnesty will not "clean the slate." as many of its proponents suggest in order to free more of our resources for other aspects of immigration enforcement. In fact. amnesty will probably encourage more prospective immigrantslegal or illegalespecially those who previously thought our Nations laws meant something. I couldnt think of a more inappropriate way to greet prospective citizensby telling them it is all right to break our laws. Of great interest to the Federal.