Speech #1000116142

Mr. President. I rise to cosponsor S. 1611. a bill introduced by Senator KENNEDY to correct a very serious inequity in the present immigration system. This inequity is revealed when we look at the dramatic decline in the number of immigrants admitted from Ireland. Italy. and Poland since 1964. the year before the present system was created. I urge my colleagues to compare the number admitted from those three countries in 1964. and the much smaller number admitted 20 years later. in 1984: Admitted in Admitted in Ireland .................................... .. ....................... 6.307 1.223 taly........... ........................ 13.245 3.130 Poland (nonrefugees) ................... 7.097 2.312 The present system emphasizes the very worthwhile goal of family reunification. which we all support. It. therefore. gives preference to the sons and daughters of U.S. citizens. and to the spouses. and unmarried sons and daughters. of permanent resident aliens. Unfortunately. it also creates painful. and even tragic. problems for Irish. Italians. and others who are penalized simply because they do not have immediate relatives in the United States. Through no fault of their own. but only because the years of largescale emigration from their lands are long past. these people must watch their dreams of becoming American citizens fade and die. Their loss is our loss. We are deprived of the extraordinary talents. energy. motivation. and educational attainments of countless thousands who yearn to come to our shores. to work. and to do their part to keep the American dream alive. Mr. President. the three examples I have cited are only a small sample of the many countries that the present system harms. The State Department and the Immigration and Naturalization Service report that the existing system also adversely affects 33 other countries. including: Argentina. Germany. Indonesia.