Speech #1030068180

Madam President. I congratulate Senator HOLLINOS for including a substantial new immigration border control initiative in this bill. This sizable package addresses many of the most pressing aspects of this vexing and difficult issue. Immigrants seeking a better life. free from religious and personal persecution. have always played an important part in this Nations history. However. we can no longer afford to offer all those who come in search of a better life the opportunities that this Nation once provided. In these times of economic hardship. when it is nearly impossible for us to provide basic social guarantees to our own citizens. it is unfair and irresponsible of us. as a government. not to stem the tide of the hundreds of thousands of individuals streaming into this country illegally. Senator HOLLINGS has proposed an initiative that will provide a substantial increase for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. This $132 million increase for fiscal year 1994 will allow INS to restore 93 positions. hire 600 new Border Patrol agents. and add 254 new positions to support processing. detention. and deportation proceedings. The initiative includes $75 million for construction and renovation of detention facilities. and an additional $20 million to improve visa processing at overseas facilities and for other related purposes. The INS and State Department desperately need these increases and improvements. Senator HOLLINGS and Senator DOMENICI. the subcommittees ranking member. have taken a significant first step in stemming the rising tide of illegal immigration. This initiative perfectly coincides with the Presidents announcement Tuesday of a major immigration reform package. The Presidents proposal includes many of the same items. such as increased Border Patrol and improvement of visa issuance procedures. but also includes legislation to increase airline review of documentation and to close visa loopholes. In dealing with deportation proceedings. the President proposes to institute expedited exclusion procedures for those attempting to enter this country with fraudulent or no documentation. This proposal is very similar to a bill introduced earlier this year by Senator SIMPSON. which I cosponsored. and will help alleviate some of the most blatant abuses of Americas already overly generous political asylum policy. Additionally. the President will take steps to reduce the backlog of asylum cases and to streamline procedures for dealing with these cases in the future. He is also proposing stiffer criminal penalties and enhanced enforcement authority to deal with alien smuggling and terrorism. Obviously. we will all want to look at the details of the Presidents proposal before endorsing any or all of the provisions. but I feel comfortable in saying that this proposal will receive strong bipartisan support and I hope that the Congress will act quickly to consider it. Adopting this appropriation bill and the additional improvements contained in the Presidents package will be an excellent start at correcting deficiencies in our immigration policy that we have ignored for too long. However. over the last few years. this problem has taken on such urgency that these efforts alone will not solve the larger problems. Reform efforts must go beyond our attempts to plug the gaps of illegal immigration. We must reexamine our overall immigration policy in light of Americas growing economic and social problems. In addition to the wellknown upsurge of illegal immigration. the United States has witnessed an unprecedented explosion of legal immigration in the last few years. From 1981 to 1988. total legal immigration to the United States hovered around 600.000. That number Jumped to 1.090.000 in 1989. and continued up to 1.536.000 in 1990. and 1.827.000 in 1991. the last year for which we have final statistics. I wonder how many Americans realize that we tripled the number of legal immigrants admitted to the United States in Just 3 years. This situation cannot continue indefinitely. A sampling of headlines taken from just the last 3 months shows the widespread concern with both illegal and legal immigration. "Immigration Distress Signals: Asylum System Under Siege." Congressional Quarterly. May 15. 1993. "U.S. Policy Seen Encouraging Wave of Chinese Immigration." the Washington Post. June 13. 1993. "Return to SenderPlease: Illegal Aliens Scam the Nations Lame Deportation System" and "Immigration Crackdown: Anxious Americans Want New Restrictions and Tougher Enforcement." U.S. News & World Report. "A New Tide of Immigration Brings Hostility to the Surface. Poll Finds." the New York Times. June 27. 1993. A USA Today cover story on July 14. 1993. contained the following series of headlines: "USA Cool to Huddled Masses." "Sentiment Sours as Rate of Arrival Rises: Immigration Backlash in the Land of Liberty." and "AntiImmigrant Feeling Running High in the USA." "Lenient Visa Rules Permit Terrorists to Enter U.S.." the Washington Post. July 23. 1993. The USA Today article included a poll showing that 65 percent of Americans favor decreasing the level of immigration and 79 percent believe that immigration should be stopped or slowed until the U.S. economy improves. This is not a question of Americas compassion. or of our sympathy for the plight of those in the world that are less fortunate. We simply have reached the point where it is not possible for the United States to absorb these exceptionally large numbers. It is particularly important to note that the segment of our society which suffers the most from increased immigration is the lower end of the economic scaleunemployed. unskilled. and semiskilled laborers that are in real danger of becoming a permanent underclass in our society. If we truly want to help our citizens that are mired in poverty. we should not be accepting ever increasing numbers of replacement workers to take away those low skill jobs. The provisions in this bill will make it easier for the INS to enforce the existing restrictions on immigration. and I hope that the Congress will move expeditiously to consider the Presidents proposed reforms to further strengthen that effort. But we must also realize that the U.S. economy. environment. and social structure are being severely strained by an unprecedented level of immigration and we must take action soon. I again congratulate Mr. HOLLINOS and Mr.