Speech #990275054

I would just like to say that in this complicated and controversial bill there is one provision which all reasonable legislators should be able to support. That provision has to do with colonial quotas and would raise the quota for Hong Kong from 600 to 5.000 a year. It would have been a clear injustice to address the problems of illegals in this vast immigration reform bill and leave out this class of people who are trying to enter the United States legally under very unfavorable odds. Let me just review for my c :lleagues some of the odds which exist for American citizens who wish to legally bring their close relatives in Hong Kong to this country. According to the State Department Bulletin on Immigration. as of October 1986. visas are currently being issued to the brothers and sist...rs of American citizens (fifth preference) who applied prior to February 22. 1974. For secor:d preferencespouses and unmarried sons and daughters of permanent residentsvisa applications are backed up to June 29. 1979. And even the most promising classification. first preferenceunmarried sons and daughters of citizensis backed up to April 1951.