Speech #980219302

Mr. Chairman. I would like to again commend all of the Members who have been managing this bill. the distinguished gentleman from Kentucky and the distinguished gentleman from California . and I commend the Members who have contributed so much to opening up this bill for the enlightenment of us all in an effort to try to solve the problem of the immigration of illegal aliens into this country. I support the McCollum amendment. and instead of talking about illegal aliens. I would like to talk for a moment about legal entries of immigrants into the United States. I would like to share a story with the Members concerning Mrs. Alice Shipley of Phoenix. AZ. who immigrated to this great Nation of ours in 1919. At 14 years of age. Alice arrived at Ellis Island in New York. having fled from Bolshevik persecution in Russia. She came to the United States "because the country opened its doors" to her and because "it made freedom. wealth and opportunity available." She recalls that her family patiently awaited entry into the country on a ship off Ellis Island outside the harbor of New York while they were properly and legally processed through the immigration lines. Seven years later she became a citizen. She had to struggle to learn the English language. but she did.