Speech #1090137849

Mr. President. the Gregg amendment No. 4054 would undermine this tradition by significantly reducing the number of visas that are available under the Diversity Visa Program. Diversity visas were created in 1990 to ensure that America would always welcome immigrants from all parts of the globe. in the tradition of our forefathers. Diversity visas are available through a lottery system to applicants from nations that are underrepresented in other immigration programs. In order to apply. an individual must be from a country that has sent less than 50.000 immigrants to the U.S. in the preceding 5 years. This special visa program allows immigrants from nations in Africa and from a number of developing nations to have a chance to apply to emigrate to the U.S. In 2004. diversity immigrants were just 5 percent all admissions of legal permanent residents. but diversity visas were 33 percent of all legal permanent resident admissions from Africa. For this reason. the Congressional Black Caucus and the NAACP oppose the Gregg amendment. In addition to African nations like Ethiopia and Nigeria. immigrants from Ireland. Albania. Poland. and Ukraine have benefited from the program. Diversity visa immigrants are not given a free pass to cross our borders and make a new life in American. Successful applicants must have at least a high school diploma and at least 2 years of work experience so that when they arrive in the U.S. they can contribute to the nations economic health. They are not exempt from the tough security checks that all immigrants undergo. Applicants must complete consular processing overseas and pass Department of Homeland Security inspection. Fraud is prevented through fingerprinting and the use of digital photographs. Applications are screened and run through Homeland Security databases to ensure that an individual cannot game the system by filing multiple applications. The Gregg amendment would take twothirds of the 55.000 diversity visas that are available each year and redirect them to applicants with advanced degrees in science. math. and engineering. I support bringing more highskilled immigrants to the U.S.. but there are already a large number of such visa slots in the bill before us today. The bill raises the cap on HlB visas from 65.000 per year to 115.000 per year. In addition. it adds an escalation clause so that in future years. if that new cap of 115.000 is met. the cap will be raised by 120 percent the following year. I think that this is a significant increase in high skilled worker visas. We can always revisit the issue in future years if the new levels do not provide an adequate number of visas for immigrants who bring science and technological skills to our Nation. We need not and should not undercut the Diversity Visa Program. The diversity visa program honors the hopes and aspirations of hard working and industrious individuals who want a chance to achieve the American dream.