Speech #1000000791

Armed Forces. based on a report that he once claimed to have fired a .22 caliber rifle at a B52 flying overhead. By invoking McCarranWalter where no threat exists to our security. we open our country and our most fundamental principles to unnecessary ridicule. When solid reasons do exist for excluding aliens. public support for such exclusions can be undermined by the perceptionall too wellfoundedthat visa denials are frequently unjustified. And as demonstrated by the case of Patricia Lara. the lack of a viable means for reviewing exclusion evidence outside the executive branch can foster persistent doubts as to the justification for visa denials. I stated on October 15. 1986. that "in the 100th Congress. we ought to examine the statute and see how it can be made to reflect what is best in our country. and not what comes from us in the legacy from a past which is as little honored in the present time as was the period of the Alien and Sedition Acts in the last decade of the 18th century. We are perfectly capable of protecting our security interests without embarrassing our Nation." The legislation I propose today will help us do just that. This legislation addresses both of the problems surrounding McCarranWalter: the need to limit grounds for exclusion to bonafide national security and foreign policy requirements. and the need to improve the process by which exclusion requests are reviewed. Eliminating subsection 212(a)(28) of McCarranWalter. which provides the basis for excluding aliens on ideological grounds. will go far toward resolving the first problem. Many more visa denials are made on the basis of subsection (28) than of (27) or (29). in fiscal year 1986. a total of 559 visas were denied under subsection (28) after the review process provided by the socalled McGovern amendment. Only 33 visa denials were made during the same period on the basis of subsection (27). and 13 on the basis of (29). But while relatively few denials are made on the basis of subsections (27) and (29). we still need the grounds provided by those subsections to exclude aliens who would undermine U.S. foreign policy or endanger our security. In particular. given the threat to foreign policy goals that could be posed by members of the PLO or other terrorist organizations. we must retain the basis for denying entry to such aliens under subsection (27). which provides for the exclusion of aliens who would "engage in activities prejudicial to the public interest." However. we must also take measures to improve the process by which requests for such visa denials are reviewed. The legislation I propose today would do this by requiring that before any alien is denied a visa under subsections (27) or (29). the Attorney General (in consultation with the Secretary of State) shall apply for an order approving that denial to the special court established by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. This court is wellsuited for considering the relatively small number of such applications that would be made. it already reviews over 500 requests each year for foreign intelligence wiretaps. and does so in a manner specifically designed to protect sensitive information. Applications for orders to exclude aliens would need to include the factual basis for the Attorney Generals knowledge or reasonable grounds for belief that permitting entry to the United States would violate subsections (27) or (29) (which would be redesignated (27) and (28) after amending McCarranWalter to strike current subsection (28)). Applications would be denied if the court concluded that the Attorney General did not have such knowledge or reasonable gounds for believing that entry of an alien would violate those subsections. A review process similar to that already established for wiretap requests would be initiated if the court denied a visa request. And as with the consideration of wiretap requests. my legislation would require that the courts proceedings be both expeditious and consistent with the security measures deemed necessary by the Attorney General and other officials. This legislation also clarifies the standing of U.S. citizens to bring civil action when they had hoped to communicate with or listen to an alien. whose visa they allege was wrongfully denied on the basis of subsections (27) or (29). Together with the elimination of McCarranWalters exclusion of aliens on ideological grounds. and the requirements that exclusion requests be granted prior approval by a special court. this clarification of standing for civil action should do much to promote free speech while preserving national security. Mr.