Speech #1040203043

President. I think the priorities in this amendment are out of line. Under this amendment. the practical effect of priorities that have been set is that virtually no visas will be available for people who fall into categories such as the adult children or the married children of U.S. citizens. Given the backlog of spouses and children of permanent residents. given the anticipated numbers by the INS. the normal categories of an unlimited immigration of the spouses and children of legal citizens. it is clear that. for the 5year period the legislation contemplates. there will not be any visas available. in my judgment. for anyone who is the child. married child. or adult child. of a U.S. citizen. What that means. Mr. President. and what our colleagues have to understand is that if the Simpson amendment were to pass. we would establish the following priority. The children of noncitizens would have a greater priority in terms of gaining access to this country than the children of U.S. citizens. Let me repeat that. The children of noncitizens would be given a higher priority than the children of citizens. In fact. virtually no adult children or married children of citizens would. under this amendment. have a chance to come here during this 5year period. Let me reflect further on the point I am making. because it turns out. as Senator SIMPSON indicated. and as we have discussed here already today. that a substantial portion of those people who are in this category of permanent residents. were themselves amnestied here in 1986 by the legislation that this Congress passed and which was signed Into law. Prior to that. they entered the country illegally. They were illegal aliens. And so if we place. as a priority. the children of these permanent residents on the basis that the Simpson amendment does. above the adult children and married children of U.S. citizens. we would not only be placing priority on the children of permanent residents. noncitizens over the children of citizens. we would be placing as a higher priority the children of illegal aliens over the children of U.S. citizens. Now. several Members have tried to differentiate between adult children of U.S. citizens and minor children. between married children of U.S. citizens and minor children. between married or adult children of U.S. citizens and minor children of noncitizens. but I have a hard time believing that any Member of the U.S. Senate or Congress wants to exclude virtually every adult or married child of U.S. citizens and. instead. propose such a substantial priority on the children of noncitizens. indeed. so many of whom were at one point illegal aliens. It just seems to me that these are not the priorities we. as a body. ought to follow. In addition to that. as was alluded to also by Senator SIMPSON. there are a huge number of children and siblings of U.S. citizens who are on this backlog list. people who have been waiting for. in some cases. as many as 10 years to come here.