Speech #1090122493

I submit. That is probably not what you said when you have been out campaigning and talking to your constituents around the country. Under the current law. before new legislation passes. the United States issues 1.1 million green cards a year. That is what we do today. and 140.000 of those green cards are available to aliens who are sponsored by employers. That is the working group. Under the HagelMartinez compromise bill. the United States would now issue between 2.2 million and 2.5 million green cards each year. 450.000 of which will be employmentbased green cards during the years 2007 and 2016. That is triple the number of employmentbased green cards we currently issue on an annual basis. triple the number we currently issue. Although the number would be curtailed after a few years. it is still 150.000 more than currently issued. After 2016. the number of green cards for employersponsored aliens would go back to double the current level. at 290.000. They have also increased the employmentbased green card capthat is the total limit. over and above the 450.000 that would now be available each year under the compromiseby exempting spouses and children from counting against the cap. Spouses and children count against the cap today. So we triple the number. and we dont count spouses and children. Because an average of 1.2 family members accompany employmentbased green card holders. we estimate that about 540.000 family members will also get employmentbased green cards without counting against this cap. That is contrary to what we do today. It is contrary to our policy.