Speech #1050119764

I want to speak in strong support of both the gentleman from Calilornia and the gentleman from Rhode Island . who I always like to bpeak li favor of. and I speak in favor of this particular amendment. I think it Is Important for us to recognize that the gentleman from Texas OMr. SMrriTl). who has offered tie bill. is trying to deal with a fundamental problem we have with immigration. and that is that the vast majority of Illegal immigration hs come Into the country because of visa overstays. and that. is why I did Ilot vote for a lot of the legislation that came out as socalled "Immigration reform" last year. because it did not deal with tile fundamental issue. I think that the gentleman from Pexas (Mr. Srrlil) ought to be congratulated for the efforts that he is making to try and deal with this Important Issue. I just think that. the particular oversight In this bill needs to be straightened out.. If. it fact. we are dealing with visa overstays. I think we have to reform the process. but if we do not deal with visa overstays and we just deal with some bureaucrat that Is sitting in sone embasy sonewhere around the world who Is saying. this particular individual does not qualify. and we add up all of those circumstances and o010 gets a 2 percent denial rate and one gets a 31 percent. tienial rate and. therefore. we are going to eliminate tie ability of these countries to go bask and forth to see their families. I will tell my colleagues. every single Member of Congress has had to get on the phone at one time. and In my case. many. many times. with some bureaucrat sitting in some embassy somewhere around the world because some family hae a very legitimatou rtght to come to America and Is being denied because some bureaucrat does not. .hink they have every "T" crossed and "I" dotted. We are not talking ahout. vast. numntiers at illegal immigrants coming into America using this process. We are talking about a I percent difference. and that 1 percent difference Is an opportunity for families to he reunitei. it Is an opportunity to Increase trade. We should deal wilh the fact that we in America make money off of Iimmigration.