[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 118 (Friday, August 19, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 19, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED 
          AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1995--CONFERENCE REPORT

  The Senate continued with the consideration of the conference report.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
  Mr. DOMENICI. Madam President, I yield myself 2 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is recognized for 2 minutes.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Madam President, I note the occupant of the chair and 
since she is from California, she has had a genuine interest, 
obviously, in the problem that Governor Wilson and Governor Chiles have 
made rather notorious, and that is, how do the States pay for 
incarceration costs of illegal aliens.
  I want to also mention that the amendment that got this issue into 
conference was offered by the distinguished Senator, of the State of 
Texas, Senator Hutchison. I am very pleased to acknowledge her 
leadership in this area. The amendment she and Senator Dole offered got 
this started, and many Senators supported it, obviously, including the 
occupant of the chair, the Senator from California.
  But I want to say to the Senator from Texas that this Senator 
appreciates her leadership with regard to this issue and other issues 
that have to do with illegal aliens, knowing that it is a very, very 
big problem in the State of Texas, as it is in other border States, and 
as it is most serious in the State of California.
  Having said that, I do not think we have anything further on our 
side, Madam President. With the permission of the chairman, we yield 
back the remainder of our time, whatever that time is.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 20 seconds.
  Mr. HOLLINGS addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Carolina is recognized.
  Mr. HOLLINGS. Madam President, the Senator from New Mexico is right 
on target. The Senator from Texas was of tremendous help. The Senator 
from California [Mrs. Feinstein], who presently occupies the chair, 
worked around the clock with our subcommittee relative not only to the 
incarceration of the illegal aliens, but particularly with respect to 
the Border Patrol problems that we had down in San Diego, with 
additional agents being assigned, additional computer facilities being 
purchased.
  Control access expedited route was found very worthy up in 
Washington. We have now put that in San Diego, for those who go to and 
from work across the border every day. On behalf of the subcommittee, I 
want to thank Senator Feinstein for her leadership.
  With respect to legislative provisions in an appropriations bill, the 
distinguished Senator from Arizona jogged my memory relative to one 
that was requested and declared by the authorizing committees under the 
leadership of our chairman of the Appropriations Committee, the 
distinguished Senator from West Virginia, Senator Robert Byrd.
  The first provision amends the Foreign Relations Act to require the 
State Department to start taking fingerprints of immigrant visa 
applicants to ensure that they do not have State or Federal felony 
convictions in the United States.
  The State Department stopped performing any checks on these people in 
1990, but this provision would require a fingerprinting test in the 10 
countries with the highest volumes of visa applicants. The agreement 
allows the State Department to charge applicants for the cost of 
performing these fingerprint checks and reimbursing the FBI.
  This resulted from a series of overall full committee hearings on the 
matter of immigration problems, with the Commissioner of the 
Immigration and Naturalization Service testifying, and other witnesses, 
the Governors from several States.
  Another item that Senator Byrd included, which we unanimously 
approved, under the Immigration and Nationality Act, to allow immigrant 
visa applicants to adjust their status in the United States with the 
Immigration Service rather than going overseas and adjusting status at 
an overseas post. These individuals have to pay a fee to the INS five 
times higher than the existing fee for changing immigration status, and 
it requires all applicants to be fingerprinted and have full background 
checks to ensure that they have not been convicted of a felony in the 
United States. The provision only relates to cases where an immigrant 
can already apply for a visa. It does not change the requirements for 
the application or when the applicant can be provided with the visa. It 
also provides the Immigration and Naturalization Service with at least 
$50 million in additional revenues.
  I think those were worthy provisions that were put in in sort of an 
emergency situation in the treatment of our appropriations for the 
Immigration and Naturalization Service.
  Madam President, I retain the remainder of my time. We have an 
additional 3 minutes before the rollcall.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The absence of a quorum has been suggested. 
The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. HOLLINGS. I think, Madam President, the time has arrived.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct. All time has expired. 
The question before the Senate is on agreeing to the conference report 
accompanying H.R. 4603. The yeas and nays have been ordered. The clerk 
will call the roll.
  Mr. DOLE. I announced that the Senator from Alaska [Mr. Murkowski] 
and the Senator from Wyoming [Mr. Simpson] are necessarily absent.
  I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from 
Wyoming [Mr. Simpson] would vote ``yea.''
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Boxer). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber who desire to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 88, nays 10, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 292 Leg.]

                                YEAS--88

     Akaka
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boren
     Boxer
     Bradley
     Breaux
     Bryan
     Bumpers
     Burns
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Chafee
     Cochran
     Cohen
     Conrad
     Coverdell
     Craig
     D'Amato
     Danforth
     Daschle
     DeConcini
     Dodd
     Dole
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durenberger
     Exon
     Feinstein
     Ford
     Glenn
     Gorton
     Graham
     Gramm
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hatfield
     Heflin
     Hollings
     Hutchison
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnston
     Kassebaum
     Kempthorne
     Kennedy
     Kerrey
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lott
     Lugar
     Mack
     Mathews
     McConnell
     Metzenbaum
     Mikulski
     Mitchell
     Moseley-Braun
     Moynihan
     Murray
     Nunn
     Packwood
     Pell
     Pressler
     Pryor
     Reid
     Riegle
     Robb
     Rockefeller
     Roth
     Sarbanes
     Sasser
     Shelby
     Simon
     Specter
     Stevens
     Thurmond
     Warner
     Wellstone
     Wofford

                                NAYS--10

     Baucus
     Brown
     Coats
     Faircloth
     Feingold
     Helms
     McCain
     Nickles
     Smith
     Wallop

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Murkowski
     Simpson
       
  So the conference report was agreed to.
  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. DODD. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

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