Speech #1010093822

Mr. Speaker. I am intoducIng legislation today to extend and make modifications to the highly successful NP5 Visa Program enacted as part of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. Mr. Speaker. in 1986. I offered an amendment to the 1986 immigration legislation to deal with the serious problems faced by residents of the traditional "seed" countries of Immigration to the United States. These countriesprimarily from Western Europehave suffered a precipitous decline In Immigration since 1965. when Congress last dealt with the issue of legal immigration. The problem stems from the current focus of our immigration laws on family reunification. Although I support the concept of family reunification in our Immigration laws. its equally Important that the laws dont discriminate against people who have no immediate relatives in the United States. The NP5 Program. then. was designed to address this problem on a temporary basis until Congress can deal with legal Immigration issues. The NP5 Program required the Secretary of State to come up with a list of countries determined to be "adversely affected" from the 1965 law. The Secretary published a list of 37 countries. residents of which qualified for 5.000 NP5 visas In 1987 and again in 1988. Last November. President Reagan signed an extension of the NP5 Visa Program through 1990. That legislation increased the number of visas available to 15.000 per year. Mr. Speaker. Congress has still not addressed the issue of legal Immigration in any comprehensive fashion. Although the Senate has passed legislation which balances the need for family reunification with a recognition of the special problems of the adversely affected countries. that legislation has not been acted on by the House. This makes the need for another extension of the NP5 Program all the more pressing. My legislation extends the NP5 Program for 5 years. with 15.000 visas available in each year through 1995. It authorizes a new lottery pool because I believe the existing pool may be outdated. In addition. it codifies a definition of "adversely affected" country and makes needed technical corrections to the implementation of the program.