Speech #1010216634

Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to rise today in support of H.R. 4300. the Family Unity and Employment Opportunity Immigration Act of 1990. I would first like to take this opportunity to commend the gentleman from Connecticut for his outstanding work in this measure. I would also like to commend members of the Judiciary Committee for their perseverance in crafting a piece of immigration reform legislation with which we can work and vote upon. In particular. the committees compromise on the allocation of additional visa numbers is laudable. This legislation would revise our Nations immigration system to allow the admission of aliens on the basis of family reunification and to meet identified labor shortages. The bill improves our current immigration law and covers many facets of immigration. reworking the reforms enacted in 1986. In particular. the marriage fraud provisions. required our review and modification. The battered spouse or child waiver of the conditional residence requirement portion would allow the Attorney General to bestow permanent resident status if an alien can demonstrate that. while the marriage was entered into in good faith. evidence has shown that the spouse was battered by. or was the subject of extreme mental cruelty perpetrated by. his or her spouse or parent.