Speech #990284244

I believe that my position is the correct one. but I may very well be wrong. One of the reasons that I think I may be wrong is the extraordinary amount of work and effort that has been done by the Senator from Wyoming in reaching a conference compromise. and this has been recognized by all of those who support this legislation and even those who will vote in opposition to it. - 01940 Before taking a very few minutes of the Senates time. I also want to acknowledge the excellent work that the chief counsel of the Immigration Subcommittee. Dick Day. and his colleague. Carl Hampe. They have been available not only to the majority of the committee but they have been available to all members on the committee and the Senate. On my own staff. Jerry Tinker has been on the staff of the Judiciary Committee almost as long as I have and has worked through the immigration issues. the refugee issues for that same number of years. He has been of invaluable help and assistance to me. I am grateful to all of those who worked so hard in achieving this very signal time in the Senates deliberation. Mr. President. I remember in 1978 when we passed the legislation to establish the Select Commission to review immigration policy. It was to be implemented in 1979. I had the opportunity of going on that Commission since at that time the Democrats were in the majority and as chairman of the Judiciary Committee I could appoint myself as a member of the Select Commission. We were supposed to have a bipartisanship membership on the Commission. and I remember the ranking member. Senator THURMOND. going through the Republican members of the Judiciary Committee and saying. "We are having a difficult time finding enough Republicans interested enough on the question of immigration to assume that responsibility." So they turned to the most junior Republican member of the Judiciary Committee. the Senator from Wyoming . The Commission was established in 1979. reported back in 1981 after extensive hearings. which were very well attended. and that is when I really began to know of the interest of the Senator from Wyoming in this issue. So many of the matters that we have here in the Senate and in which we are interested just affect our State. affect interests which for one reason or another we may have brought to the Senate or developed while in the Senate. I for the life of me always wondered what the immigration issue would mean to the State of Wyoming. Really. very. very little. I am sure the Senator from Wyoming would point out various occasions when it might have some impact on particular communities.