Speech #1040264639

The bill sets an impossibly high standard for proving that employers put Hispanics and Asians through more hoops to get jobs than other American workers. This kind of job discrimination is flagrant and wrong. and Congress should not let employers continue to get away with it. The Republican bill also puts an unfair dollar sign on family reunification. American citizens who want to bring in family memberseven wives or husbands or young childrenmust meet excessive income standards. It doesnt matter if the family members they are sponsoring have a job or have assets of their own. These citizens are out of luck and out of hope for reuniting their families in America. and Congress should reject this harsh antifamily standard. Finally. the Republican bill hurts refugees. makes the recent welfare reforms even worse. and gratuitously endangers the environment. All of these issues can be satisfactorily resolved in a fair bipartisan conference. But they cannot be resolved if Republicans continue to quarrel among themselves and let the Dole campaign dictate steps that have nothing to do with reasonable immigration legislation. Bob Dole may not want action by Congress on illegal immigration but the country does. and the vast majority of Americans and Congress do. I also ask unanimous consent to have printed in the RECORD the excellent editorial in the New York Times today.