Mr. President. I am pleased to join with Senator HATCH in sponsoring legislation requested by Mother Teresa to waive visa application fees for religious workers coming to the United States to perform charitable work for temporary periods. During her visits to the United States. Mother Teresa asked President Clinton to take this step to waive visa fees for her missionaries coming to work in this country. Her Missionaries of Charity come to America to help the poor in our communities and to minister to the sick and the elderly. Each time they travel here. they are required to pay a $120 visa fee to the United States Government. It makes no sense to require these religious workers to pay a fee to the federal government in order to come here to help our communities. The legislation we introduce today would waive the fee in these instances. This past weekend. while attending Mother Teresas funeral in India. the First Lady met with Sister Nirmala. Mother Teresas successor at the Missionaries of Charity Order in Calcutta. Sister Nirmala asked once again for a waiver of the visa fee and was delighted to learn that the United States Senate would be considering legislation this week to accomplish this goal as Mother Teresa had requested. This is an important step that Congress can take to honor the memory of Mother Theresa and the compassionate work that her Order brings to America. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.