Speech #1050139777

I thank the Chair for reminding me. Madam President. this amendment .repeals a provision in the immigration laws that was a tragic mistake whenit was enacted. My amendment to strike that provision deals with economics. it deals with patriotism. it deals with immigration. and it deals with fraud. In order for my colleagues to understand precisely what we are talking about. let me set the stage. I fought this battle in 1989 and. at the expense of sounding a little selfserving. lost. but predicted what has happened would happen. The immigration bill considered by the Senate in 1989 included a provision of the bill to increase investment because we were headed into a recession. We decided we would take a page out of the play books of Canada and Australia. We thought. if they can sell citizenship for $200.000. citizenship in the United States ought to be worth at least $1 million. It is a very logical assumption. So. we said. in that bill in 1989. we will reserve 4.800 visas for foreigners who wants to come into this Nation and bring $1 million and hire 10 people: We will give you a green card at the end of 2 years. and. at the end of an additional 3 years. we will make you a citizen of the United States. Then in the conference committee we decided we could do even better than that. We said: You dont have to bring $1 million dollars. bring $500.000. If you put a hamburger joint up that will hire 10 people in an area of high unemployment or in a rural area. we will do the same thing for you. We cut the price of citizenship from $1 million to $500.000 and the 4.800 slots that we reserved in the Senate bill increased to 10.000 in the conference report. Multiply $1 million by 10.000 visas and just think of all the magnificent investment we would have in this country and how many jobs we would create. Madam President. that "aint" all. We said not only will you not really have to create 10 jobs with your $500.000 or your $1 million. you only have to maintain 10 jobs.