Speech #1040241844

Republicans. do this. I want to talk to Members about people. I want to talk to Members about legal immigrants. men and women who are here legally. pay their taxes. serve in the military. but are taking the biggest hit in all of the bills we are debating today. The bill that is the centerpiece of the majority retains very harsh and uncompromising language. While we all support the strengthening of requirements and the sponsors of legal immigrants applying for either SSI. food stamps. or AFDC. the bill bans SSI and food stamps for virtually all legal immigrants and imposes a 5year ban on all other Federal programs. including nonemergency Medicaid. imagine that. nonemergency Medicaid. for new legal immigrants. These bans would also cover legal immigrants who become disabled after entering the country. families with children. and current recipients. Madam Chairman. .3 million immigrant children. .3 million. are affected. That is not right. that is not the traditions of this country. Madam Chairman. this bill unfairly shifts costs to States with high numbers of legal immigrants. The bill requires virtually all Federal. State and local benefits programs to verify recipients citizenship or alien status These are new unfunded mandates for State. local. and nonprofit service providers and barriers to participation for citizens. Again. let us look at the facts. First of all. legal immigrants work hard and pay taxes. That has been documented. The foreignborn are more likely to work than the nativeborn. 77 to 74 percent. In 1992. Business Week estimates legal immigrants work and earn at least $240 billion a year and they pay over $90 billion in taxes. Legal immigrants are a net benefit to the economy. A new Urban Institute study: For every increase of 100 people in the native population. employment grew by 26 jobs. and for every increase of 100 in the immigrant population. employment grew by 46 jobs. Research shows that immigrants actually complement native workers rather than substitute for native workers. If no Mexican immigration had occurred between 1970 and 1980. 53.000 production jobs. 12.000 highpaying nonproduction jobs. and 25.000 jobs in related industries would have been lost. Again. this is the respected. bipartisan Urban Institute. Last. welfare among legal immigrants is low. Among nonrefugee immigrants of working age who entered during the 1980s. 2 percent report welfare incomes versus 3.7 percent of working age natives. Nonrefugee immigrants of working age are less prone to welfare use than natives according to a CATO study. Madam Chairman. all of us here want welfare reform. It is not true that these gentleman on this side and others on that side have not voted for welfare reform. That is the number one issue among our constituents. What we are doing now is targeting illegal and legal immigrants indiscriminately. What we are doing is turning the clock back to a darker time when people in America. but only certain people in America. lived and worked under the shadow of secondclass status. There is no justification for targeting immigrants who do not abuse the welfare system. who work hard. who play by the rules. who pay taxes. and who serve in the military at Americas calling. Most immigrants are longterm residents who have lived in this country and have paid taxes for 10 years or more. Immigrants do not come to this country to take advantage of our welfare system. So. Madam Chairman. here we face a number of welfare reform bills. substitutes. Let me say that legal immigrants take a hit in all bills. So as a Hispanic American whose mother is Mexican and as many in this body that have an ethnic background that Is not a pure American. I do not think there is one native American in this bodythere is in the Senatewhat we have and what we are doing Is wrong. it should be rejected. and we should stand behind the best traditions of this country.