Speech #1010246248

Mr. President. I am pleased to Join with my colleagues on the Immigration SubcommitteeSenator SIMPSON and Senator SIMONin bringing before the Senate the conference report on S. 358. The Immigration Act of 1990. This bill. like all major legislation. represents many years of work and many efforts at compromise. This measure is the culmination of a decadelong effort which began in 1979 with the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy. The Commissions report laid the basis for the most comprehensive reforms of the Nations immigration laws in our history. That effort has been a two.step process. In 1986. we enacted a farreaching measure to deal with illegal immigration. In this bill. an equally farreaching reform of legal immigration will be achieved. This legislation represents a compromise. Each of us would have written this bill differently if we could. The issues surrounding legal immigration stir deep emotions and strong political passions. They touch the heart of what America is. how we all became Americans. and who the future Americans will be. Over the past several years. we have worked closely with our colleagues in the House to fashion a compromise Immigration bill that we believe reflects a consensus on what needs to be done to bring long over due improvements in our immigration laws. Our goal has been to reform the current immigration systemwhich has not changed in 25 yearsso that it will more faithfully serve the national interest. and be more flexible and open to immigrants from nations which are now shortchanged by current law. The provisions of this bill will accomplish these objectives. while also maintaining the priority we have traditionally given to those with family connections to the United Statesand without departing from any of the basic goals of fairness established in the 1965 reforms. This compromise creates two separate preference systems for immigration Visasone for close family members. another for independent immigrants. This twotrack system was first recommended by the Select Commission. By redressing the imbalances which have inadvertently developed in recent years. we will again open our doors to those who no longer have immediate family ties to the United States. By placing more emphasis on the particular skills and qualities that independent immigrants possess. we will bring our present laws more in line with the Nations economic needs. These reforms will be achieved without reducing our traditional priority for family reunification. The visas currently reserved for family members of recent Immigrants. as established in the 1965 reforms. will not be reduced. This compromise bill will add visas. it does not subtract visas. In fact. this bill represents the first major expansion of our immigration system in a quarter century. It is a careful and balanced expansion that protects the national interest while promoting the goal of family reunification. Under the terms of this legislation. during the first 3 years. beginnng in 1992. legal immigration will increase from current levels of approximately 490.000 to 700.000. Beginning in 1995. a permanent level of 675.000 will be seta 38 percent increase in legal immigration to the United States. The admission of immediate relatives of U.S. citizens will remain unrestricted. despite the establishment of a worldwide ceiling. Although a new national level of immigration of 675.000 will be established for the first time. the spouses. minor children and parents of U.S. citizens will remain unrestricted. If their admission levels increase during the coming years. any squeeze under the cap will be shared equitably by other categories of immigrants. But if the projected growth of immediate relatives continues and the squeeze becomes too great in some future year. the cap will automatically be increased accordingly. In addition. the bill increases by nearly fourfold the number of skilled workers and socalled diversity immigrants. The admission of persons on the basis of their skills and talents will go from 54.000 each year to 195.000. The current limitation of 216.000 on other family preferences will be increased permanently to 260.000a 20percent increase. This will double the visa numbers for second preference relativesthe spouses and minor children of permanent residentsthus reducing the backlogs in Mexico and other high demand countries. as well as the worldwide backlog for this category. The bill establishes a family fairness policy to protect immediate family members of beneficiaries of the amnesty under the 1986 act. Those family members are here illegally. and they are now protected only by administrative stay of deportation. with no legal status. and with a cutoff date of 1986. The bill gives them a permanent legal status. with a cutoff date for eligibility of May 5. 1988. The bill also provides for a waiver of the application deadline for the second stage of the 1986 amnesty program. to allow those who were eligible for the amnesty in the first stagebut did not meet the second stage reapplication deadlineto apply now. This will benefit several thousand amnesty applicants now unable to do so. This legislation will bring many other reforms to our immigration laws. Among the most important of these changes are the following provisions: Transitional visas40.000 a year for the next 3 yearswill be made available to applicants from adversely affected countries. including Ireland. Italy. Poland. and 30 other nations. Beginning in 1995. this program will be expanded into a diversity program with 55.000 visas a year available to these nations and the much larger group of nations that do not currently use their full allotments of visas because of the restrictions of present law. A new independent commission is established to require Congress to review our immigration laws and policies at least every 3 years. Controls on the issuance of H1 temporary professional visas are strengthened by tightening the definition of "professions of exceptional merit and ability" and by placing a cap of 65.000 visas anually on this category. The bill provides significant reforms in nonimmigrant visa procedures. and strengthens and simplifies the current labor certification process. Mr. President. 10.000 employment generating visas are provided for investors who invest in enterprises. especially in depressed rural or urban areas. which create a minimum of 10 new jobs for Americans. Visa numbers for Hong Kong are doubled to 20.000. and delayed visas are provided for those Hong Kong residents working for the United States Government or United States businesses. so that they will be able to obtain visas if they wish to leave after Hong Kong returns to Chinese control. A clear policy is established for granting temporary safe haven to foreign nationals unable to return safely to their native countries because of violence or upheaval. The annual number of asylum applicants who can adjust their status to permanent residence is increased to 10.000. and the current backlog of applicants is removed. Administrative naturalization procedures are created. to reduce naturalization backlogs. while preserving the right for court citizenship ceremonies. Reforms are achieved in the areas of deportation and criminal aliens. The exclusion categories are reformed and updated to end outdated ideological. medical and communicable disease provisions. In closing. I want to emphasize again what this bill does not do. It does not cut family reunification. Additional visas are provided for this purpose. The number of visas available for spouses and children of permanent residents is doubled. and the number for brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens is not changed. The imposition of the cap does not arbitrarily restrict future growth of immigration. Procedures are established to review and adjust the level every 3 years. The President and a specially created independent commission must review the effects of immigration. and recommend changes in the national level of immigration. Congress is required to act expeditiously to deal with those recommendations. It does not reduce our ability to meet changing immigration requirements. Under the regular review procedures. no number. no level. and no category of immigration will be permitted to become frozen into law. unchanged from decadetodecade. as has been the case with past legislation. This bill preserves the immigration rights of those who have close family connections in this country. while opening up opportunities at long last for immigration from countries who have contributed so much to America in the past. but which have been shut out almost entirely in recent years. From the earliest days of our history. America has been a beacon of hope and opportunity to peoples in other lands. All of us are proud of our immigrant heritage. We honor it best by doing all we can to preserve that heritage. to build upon it. and to strengthen it for the future. This legislation advances these goals. and I urge the Senate to approve it.