Speech #1000044038

Mr. President. there are a couple of issues which have come to the attention of those of us on the Subcommittee on Immigration and Refugee Affairs on which I would like to address my colleagueswith Senator SIMPSON. our able ranking member. and Senator HOLLINGS. the distinguished chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce. Justice. State. the Judiciary. and related agencies. As they know. the responsibility for the implementation of the Immigration Reform and Control Act enacted last yearand for which Senator SIMPssoN was chief sponsoris spread across a number of Government agencies. While Senator HOLLINGS is to be commended for his work in offering the barebones funding needed for the Immigration Services role in implementation. significant funding questions remain on key aspects of the implementation of employer sanctions within the Department of Justice. These are: First. funding for the "Special Counsel" on immigrationrelated employment discriminationa key ingredient to the delicate balance within the immigration bill for which the Justice Department has asked $1.359.000. Second. funding for the administrative law judges needed to adjudicate employer sanctions cases against employers. for which $5.823.000 was requested. and Third. $936.000 for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice for litigation anticipated to arise from the new law. These employer sanctions items total just over $8 million. yet they represent fundamentally important ingredients to the balance of the various provisions in the new immigration law. For example. a key element in the agreements that helped move the bill toward passage last year was the special counsel on discrimination. This special counsel was the insurance which the Congress provided ethnic Americans. immigrants. refugees. and others that their concerns about the possibility of employment discrimination will be taken seriously.