Speech #980043169

Mr. President. I rise in support of Senator BRADLEYS amendment to authorize reimbursement to State and local governments for the costs incurred by the legalization progam authorized by S. 529. the Immigration Reform and Control Act of Mr. President. I am not only pleased to cosponsor the Senator from New Jerseys amendment. I am relieved that at long last other Members of this distinguished body are realizing the importance of Federal assistance in immigration programs. My State of Florida is still bailing out from the unprecedented expenses brought on by the Cuban flotilla and Haitian influx of 1980 and 1981. Florida received very little assistance from the Federal Government during the whole ordeal and what little financial help we got came because several of us in the Florida delegation badgered our friends on the Appropriations Committees to provide some relief to Florida. We got it. but we had to repeat the fight several times. Therefore. I am very pleased that Senator BRADLEY and others are recognizing the need and efficiency of authorizing reimbursement in Federal immigration law. I must say that I am not a dyedinthe wool convert to the whole idea of legalization. I have great problems with granting automatic residency to a vast subsociety of undocumented aliens who have lived for years in the United States. I have problems because we are dealing with an unknown numberdocumented estimates on the number of illegal aliens ranges from 3 million to 12 million persons. Nine million persons is a wide discrepancy and we do not know how many of these unknowns have already participated in our schools. in our health care. and in our social services. The enactment of a legalization program could have a significant impact on Florida. And then. perhaps most of the undocumented aliens have already placed their children in our schools and made themselves available to our health care. Then. the impact of legalization might be minimal. We just do not know.