Speech #1010216569

Chairman. I thank the gentleman from Texas . the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary. for yielding me this time. I thank the gentleman for his leadership in helping us move to the floor of this House a farreaching and important reform of our immigration system. The last time the Congress acted upon the overall structure of the legal immigration system in this country was in 1965. That is 25 years ago. and those 25 years have seen many changes within the United States and around the world. Those changes require that our immigration system be adjusted and updated and reformed in order to see to it that its fundamental goals are still pursued in a way that is relevant with the times. Mr. Chairman. immigration has been a source of great strength to this country. Immigration has been the source of perhaps our greatest strength. It is what makes us a nation by choice. a nation which people have selected as the Nation to which they would come and live. No ethnic group. no religion. no geographical accident defines this Nation. This Nation is defined by a voluntary adherence to farreaching principles of human rights and democracy. People have come here in pursuit of these ideals. and to live them out day by day. Only through immigration and the continuation of our open and generous immigration policy can we continue to be for all the world a nation of choice. a nation composed of selfselected strivers. who seek to make their own lives better. to make the lives of their children more hopeful and. in doing so. to make the future of this Nation stronger and better for those who are here already. as well as those who come in the future. This bill covers three major areas of concern in immigration. and I think it does so in an appropriate way. First and foremost. it reforms and improves the fundamental principles of our immigration system as reformed in 1965 under the leadership of our esteemed past chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary. Peter Rodino. That principle is one of a profamily immigration policy. Unifying families. especially the nuclear family. has been a critical priority of our immigration system. Nonetheless. under our existing law the immediate relatives of people who have been admitted to live permanently in the United States may be prevented from joining their family members for years and years on end. That is not conducive to good family life. good citizenship. nor is it conducive to adherence to the legal standards of immigration. What family stays apart from its children or its spouse for years and years on end? It does not happen.