Speech #1040045476

Mr. Chairman. several amendments have been offered to improve the unwise and unwarranted provisions of H.R. 4. the Personal Responsibility Act. relating to legal immigrants. Sadly. none of them goes far enough to correct a serious defect in this poorly drafted bill. The legislation now before us prohibits most legal immigrants from receiving certain welfare benefits. food stamps and Medicaid. It also contains an illadvised "deeming until citizenship" provision that could render legal immigrants ineligible for benefits under a wide range of federal. state and local programs. This punitive approach. that runs counter to our best traditions of fairness and decency. is strongly opposed by the Catholic Church. the Council of Jewish Federations and a host of other prominent organizations. As we discuss this issue. I would remind my colleagues that under current law legal immigrants are effectively barred from receiving most welfare benefits for several years after entry. Moreover. they are required to fulfill virtually the same responsibilities as citizens. They must pay taxes. and they can be drafted. Under the proposed restriction. a legal immigrant. who has been working for years and paying taxes. will be denied assistance if he becomes disabled. Many others who have worked hard but never officially become citizens will be refused coverage for valuable health care services. For those who assert that legal immigrants represent a drain on Government. I commend to them a study conducted last year -by the Urban Institute. The Institute estimated that immigrants contribute $30 billion more in revenue than they collect in services each year. These findings echoed an earlier study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showing that immigrant families on average contribute about $2.500 a year more in taxes than they obtain in public services. We should also remember why many immigrants come here. Like many of our ancestors they land on these shores because they want to work and be productive. selfsustaining individuals. I believe it can only be characterized as callous and meanspirited to bar taxpaying. lawabiding persons from participating in programs that they must help support. Refusing benefits to legal immigrants will clearly not translate into savings for everyone. State and local governments will be forced to make increased expenditures as those noncitizens left with no means of support turn to their programs. Under the proposed bill. states and localities are able to deny assistance to legal immigrants. However. I believe the damaging repercussions of such a decision will make them reluctant to do so. I am sure that state and local officials around the country are surprised to see my colleagues creating these financial burdens less than a week after Congress sent unfunded mandate legislation to President Clinton. which he signed. Eliminating Medicaid coverage for legal immigrants will be particularly costly to state and local governments. as well as hospitals. 1.7 million noncitizensmany of whom are childrenwill be forced to let their illnesses go untreated until they become emergencies. As we all know. treating persons on this basis is generally far more expensive than providing routine care. Past experience shows that it can also be fatal.