Speech #990197787

I rise in opposition to this amendment. Mr. Chairman. our 1980 Housing Act. as amended by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981. set forth in law a prohibition against providing assistance under federally assisted housing programs to any alien who is not a lawful resident of the United States. pursuant to the Immigration and Naturalization Act. Our 1983 housing bill had a provision which put on hold HUDs ability to publish final regulations. That hold period was for 1 year. HUD has since published a regulation which becomes final in early July. The amendment before us today would grandfather those illegal aliens already housed in units assisted under our Federal housing programs. It seems to me that to grandfather these illegal aliens in these times of tight budgetary resources is grossly unfair to American citizens. The impetus of the original statutory provisions in 1980 was that we saw ourselves housing nonAmericans whose own country was housing American citizens against their will. If my colleagues will recall. this was the socalled Vento amendment. The gentleman from Minnesota offered the amendment when he found that we were housing Iranian students in public housing projects and thus he offered the amendment to make it illegal to house these illegal aliens. who were Iranian students. Mr. Chairman. to house illegal aliens and deny occupancy to bona fide American citizens in these times when everyone is taking their acrosstheboard cuts it seems to me is just unfair. I understand current law on this subject is not perfect. I understand the law is burdensome on public housing authorities and on HUD.