Mr. President. I continue to be concerned about actions by Congress that hurt legal immigrants. Last year. Congress passed a socalled welfare reform bill. This harsh bill cut off legal immigrants from most Federal assistance programs for the first time in history. It permanently banned legal immigrants from SSI and food stamps. It banned them for 5 years from AFDC. Medicaid. and other programs. And. it gave the States the option of permanently banning them from these programs. We quickly saw the effect of these extreme provisions. Panic spread through the immigrant community. The Social Security Administration sentnotices to legal elderly and disabled immigrants that they would soon lose their SSI benefits. Numerous reports in the press told of legal immigrants who would be turned out of nursing homes. or cut off from disability payments. Some legal immigrants took their own lives. rather than burden their families. Thankfully. many Members of Congress realized that these provisions went too far. This budget reconciliation bill corrects many of those mistakes. Members of the Finance Committee and Budget Committee showed impressive leadership in developing this bill. They recognized that the immigrants affected by last years harsh cuts are individuals and families who came here legally. By and large. they are family membersmothers. fathers. and sons. daughtersof American citizens. They play by the rules. pay their taxes. and serve in the Armed Forces.
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