Speech #1040191484

Mr. Chairman. I rise today in support of H.R. 2202. the Immigration in the National Interest Act of 1995. This is an extraordinary important bill that improves our Nations immigration policy. Clearly. Congress has a responsibility to formulate sound and comprehensive policies governing immigration--legal and illegal. The need to reexamine our immigration policy has been long overdue. Over the past few days this bill has been considered on the floor. a vigorous national debate has ensued on this complex and controversial issue. Frankly. there are still provisions in this bill that concern mesome remaining. some added by floor amendments--but in balance. H.R. 2202 makes needed reforms which I will speak about in a moment. Like nearly every American. I am concemed about the problems of illegal immigration. Over 1.8 million undocumented aliens enter the United States each year. We must stem this flow. both for economic and security reasons. Terrorism is a growing and legitimate law enforcement concern. and illegal entry Is frequently the way they get into our country. Similarly. the economic cost of illegal immigrants is undeniable. Limiting the flow of illegal aliens through Improved enforcement is part of the solution. As a member of the Commerce. Justice. State and Judiciary Appropriations Subcommittee. I have consistently supported giving the responsible Federal agencies sufficient resources to deal with the problem of illegal Immigration. We still have work to do in this area. and I will continue to work with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. as well as with the members of the Appropriations Committee. to make sure that we have sufficient manpower along the border to deal with flow of undocumented aliens. H.R. 2202 includes provisions to Improve border crossing Identification cards by making them less susceptible to counterfeiting. In addition. it Includes provisions to deter document fraud and alien smuggling. and streamlines procedures for the inspection. apprehension. detention. adjudication. and removal of inadmissible and deportable aliens. But there must also be a longterm solution that encourages democracy and economic growth in countries that send illegal immigrants to our borders--especially Central and South America. Job opportunities in those countries is the strongest incentive to keep potential immigrants there. Thus. in addition to strong enforcement of our immigration laws and imposing sanctions on those who hire illegal aliens. we must seek mutually beneficial trade relationships that can stimulate economies in Central and South America. This is one of the many reasons I support the North American FreeTrade Agreement (NAFTA]. It is in our own selfinterest to help Mexico build an economy that can create the nearly one million new jobs required each year to keep ahead of population growth. Only in that way can we provide an incentive for Mexicans to stay at homeand a disincentive to come to the United States. With respect to legal immigration reform. this bill addresses the abuse of claims for political asylum. These are currently 300.000 pending claims. and that number is growing by 12.000 each month. Of course. there can be legitimate claims of political asylum. but our current system allows for six opportunities of appeal when a claim is denied. This is excessive and unacceptable. H.R. 2202 makes much needed changes to this asylum process. The asylum reform provision In the bill would require aliens to file an application for asylum within 180 days of entering the United States. Those filing after the deadline would not be eligible for asylum. This is a reasonable and important reform because It encourages aliens to apply for asylum without delay and makes their presence known to Immigration authorities. The bill provides that an alien who qualifies as a political refugee will be granted asylum unless the person is discovered to have a prior history of persecuting other persons. has been convicted of a felony or other serious crime prior to his arrival. is regarded as a danger to national security. or is inadmissible on terrorist grounds. It provides that asylum protection for an alien may be terminated If the person is no longer a refugee. can be moved to another country where he will be granted asylum or other temporary protection. voluntarily returns to his native country with the intent to stay. or has changed his or her nationality to a country which will grant asylum. Although I favor maintaining numbers of legal immigrants admitted to the United States annually at current levels. I did not support the Chrysler/Brownback amendment to strip legal immigration reforms from the bill. There is a tie between legal and illegal immigration reform that cannot be disputed and should not be separated. Changes in illegal immigration policy will have an effect on legal immigration and vice versa. Although these provisions should have been kept together. I support final passage of H.R. 2202. It Is imperative that we move forward. send this bill to conference with the Senate. and send President Clinton a comprehensive and responsible immigration reform bill.