Speech #1000124354

Mr. President. before my friend from Massachusetts leaves the Chamber. let me say that he was of immeasurable assistance to me in regard to the Immigration Reform and Control Act. There were some tremendous political realities that he was confronted with on the bill and he shared that with me throughout the proceedings. I understood fully. for they were things that happened in his State. But whatever original movement was made here on this issue was made because of the persistence of the Senator from Massachusetts. who. for 17 years. was involved in the Subcommittee on Immigration and Refugee Policy. who mastered the issue. who held hearings on the issue. who often was ready to proceed with the issue in the U.S. Senate. But the then chairman of the Judiciary Committee was reluctant to do so. Chairman RODINO. would send the important essence of immigration reform over here twice. which was employer sanctions. and the Senator from Massachusetts would pick it up and proceed with it. but it never got through because of the reluctance of the now deceased former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. When I came upon the scene. the Senator from Massachusetts helped me in learning the issue. He was a good counsel. He knew the techniques. he knew the technical work that had to be done. We served together on the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy and I look forward to working with him in the future as we grapple with legal immigration issues. and that will be presented in the Senate very shortly. It is a distinct pleasure to have him working with me. and. more than that. to enjoy his friendship. Mr. President. it has been a full year since President Reagan signed into law the Immigration Reform and Control Act. I had first introduced that bill nearly 6 years earlier. and while this body provided an extraordinarily strong bipartisan support for the immigration reform legislation effort by passing it by wide margins in Congress after Congress. the special interest groups across the full spectrum of political ideology opposed the bill. They claimed It would cause discrimination against employees. They claimed it would impose unfair burdens on employers. it would cause labor shortages. and a remarkable variety of other ills were contended.