Speech #1040190257

Mr. Speaker. historically our country has made few distinctions between legal immigrants and American citizens. Instead we have always drawn a clear line between legal immigrants and undocumented workers. Our current debate. however. combines legal and illegal immigration and focuses mainly on the economic outcomes while neglecting our social. cultural and moral goals. Too many people wrongly believe today that todays immigrants drain our economy and use far more welfare than native born Americans. Plain and simple. this is not true. Legal immigrants not only pay taxes and can be drafted in time of war. which are the main legal obligations of citizens. but they also start businesses. purchase goods and services. and create jobs. which is essential for the wellbeing of our economy. We must address this issue in the rule and we should support the ChryslerBerman amendment. If we are going to have immigration reform. legal immigration and reform. we should first of all promote the strength of families and their values through family reunification. We should also protect American workers from unfair competition while providing employers with appropriate access to international labor markets to promote our competitiveness. Third. we should promote naturalization to encourage full participation in the national community. Instead. the bill as it is today drastically and unnecessarily restricts the ability of American citizens to reunite with family members. even clogs family members such as parents and some children. This bill fails to protect American workers in the legal immigration provisions. Last. it fails to recognize th6 role that naturalization can serve to advance the Nations immigration policy. But what really. really is the most dramatic and in a way hypocritical part of this proposal is the provision on guest workers. We have a new agricultural guest worker program. At the same time we are saying no to immigration. we are saying it is OK to bring guest workers into the country. What this provision would do is it would increase illegal immigration. it would reduce work opportunities for American citizens and other legal residents. it would depress wages and work standards for U.S. farm workers. and it is not a sustainable solution to any labor shortage which might develop. Mr. Speaker. this is an important bill because It strikes at the core of the men and women in this country. We are a Nation of immigrants. Let us do this bill right. let us do it humanely. let us try to be efficient about it. The first thing we should do is separate legal immigration and illegal immigration. They are two different parts of the issue. of our society. of our morals. And then let us also be consistent. Let us find ways to deal with deterring illegal immigration. finding ways to improve the legal immigration program. but not go ahead and start a guest worker program which is totally antithetical to what we are trying to do. Historically. our Nation has made few distinctions between legal immigrants and American citizens. Instead we have always drawn a clear line between legal immigrants and ur. documented aliens. Our current debate. however. combines legal and illegal immigration and focuses mainly on the economic outcomes while neglecting our social. cultural. and moral goals. Despite the fact that the majority of nonrafugee immigrants of working age use welfar far less than their American counterparts. and that the Federal Government spends less on immigrants than on citizens. this bill denies legal residents the same benefits as other Americans. Too many people wrongly believe that todays immigrants drain our economy and use far more welfare than nativeborn Americans. Plain and simple. this Is not true. Legal immigrants not only pay taxes and can be drafted in time of war. which are the main legal obligations of citizens. but also start businesses. purchase goods and services. and create jobs. which Is essential for the wellbeing of our economy. The Immigration in the National Interest Act of 1995 treats legal and Illegal immigration as if they were the same issue. places extreme income restrictions and eliminates family preference categories which will permanently keep American families apart. Making good and fair policy requires clear separation of these two distinct parts of U.S. immigration policy.