Speech #1050064204

I rise in support of H.R. 1109 which Mr. MCCOLLUM of Florida and I introduced on March 18th. 1997. This bill is a technical correction of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) of 1996 (Public Law 104208). Let me explain the history behind this legislation. Section 322 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) establishes the criteria for citizenship of children born to U.S. citizens living abroad. Prior to 1986. for a U.S. citizen parent to transmit U.S. citizenship to his or her foreignborn or adopted child (before eighteen years of age). the American parent or grandparent had to have lived in the U.S. for 10 years. 5 of which had to be after age fourteen. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) amended these requirements to five years of U.S. residency. two after the age of fourteen. Because the change in IRCA applied prospectively. some families had siblings subjected to different standards. Hence. section 102 of the Immigration and National Technical Corrections Act of 1994 (Public Law 103416) was introduced to amend Section 322 of the INA and apply these lower standards retroactively. IIRIRA amended Section 322 by placing a special restriction on children born before November 14. 1986. For those children to be eligible for U.S. citizenship. the American parent or grandparent was once again required to have been physically present in the U.S. for a total of ten years. at least five of which were after the age fourteen. IIRIRA has inadvertently created the same problem that the 1994 amendment to the INA was designed to cure. as siblings may once again find themselves subjected to different standards. The enactment of H.R. 1109 will simply repeal this error and restore Section 322 to its preIIRIRA status. The bill will also eliminate the extensive administrative confusion created by last years immigration bill. There is no opposition to this legislation. I hope we can give favorable consideration to this technical correction of IIRIRA and I urge my colleagues to support it.