Speech #1040269293

Mr. President. I would like to comment briefly on the asylumrelated provisions of H.R. 2202. the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. The agreements we reached with the House in the conference report involved a number of compromises on provisions involving the asylum system. I worked very hard in conference to modify the House provisions. and I think we arrived at workable compromises that will be fair in practice. The conference reports provisions on summary exclusion. also referred to as expedited exclusion. significantly revise the summary exclusion provisions of the Terrorism Act. which apply to those excludable based on document fraud or the absence of documents. The provisions of the Terrorism Act would not have provided adequate protection to asylum claimants. who may arrive in the United States with no documents or with false documents that were needed to exit a country of persecution. Under the revised provisions. aliens coming into the United States without proper documentation who claim asylum would undergo a screening process to determine if they have a credible fear of persecution. If they do. they will be referred to the usual asylum process. While I supported the LeahyDeWine amendment that was included in the Senate bill and that passed the Senate 51 to 49. the conference report represents a compromise. The conference report provisions apply to incoming aliens and to those who entered without inspection. socalled EWIs but have not been present in this country for 2 years.