Speech #1040274161

Mr. President. as we move toward adjournment. I wish to comment on the recently passed illegal immigration reform bill. I also wish to commend everyone who helped hammer out the compromise that was incorporated into H.R. 4278. the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations bill. The resulting compromise properly shifted the focus from penalizing those legally admitted to this country to those who illegally cross our borders. The conference report. as passed by the House of Representatives last week. would have severely restricted benefit eligibility for legal permanent residents and other lawfully admitted immigrants. Legal residentspeople who contribute to our society by working hard. paying taxes. serving in our Nations Armed Forces. and observing all laws to remain in the United Stateswould have been ineligible for most Federally funded public assistance based on income. The resulting compromise eliminates deeming provisions that would have restricted the ability of legal immigrants to receive federal benefits during their first 5 years in the United States. Moreover. it dropped provisions mandating deportation or denial of naturalized status to immigrants who accept Federal benefits during a 12month period over 7 years. These are significant changes which soften the newly enacted welfare reform bill that bars legal resident aliens from receiving a number of Federal benefits. The Housepassed conference agreement also called for establishing income standards for the sponsorship by U.S. citizens of family members that were unrealistically high and would have had a deleterious effect on family reunificationa longstanding goal of U.S. immigration policy. The conference agreement numbers would have kept sponsorship of immediate family members out of the reach of many hardworking. taxpaying families. Under the compromise. sponsors of immigrant relatives must now earn a minimum of 125 percent of the Federal poverty level. This is a more realistic standard that will assist lowincome wage earners in reuniting with their family members. I voted for the Senate immigration reform bill in May. not because I thought it was perfect. but because it addressed the issue of illegal immigration. I was hopeful that the House and Senate bills could be negotiated in a bipartisan fashion so that Congress could enact meaningful immigration reform. During the conference. Democrats were excluded from the process.