[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 28, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1386-S1387]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              LEGAL AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I have sought recognition to comment 
about the immigration bill which is scheduled to come before the 
Judiciary Committee tomorrow and, first of all, an amendment which will 
be offered by a number of Senators, including the distinguished 
Presiding Officer, Senator DeWine of Ohio, under the leadership of 
Senator Spencer Abraham of Michigan, to divide the appropriations bill 
into two parts, that relating to legal immigration and that relating to 
illegal immigration.
  I think it is important to do so, that the bills have independent 
status and that there not be an effort made to tie either bill to the 
other. The bill on legal immigration has no more to do with the bill on 
illegal immigration than, say, the telecommunications bill has to do 
with the crime bill. Illegal immigration is a major problem in America.
  I picked the telecommunications bill not at random but because the 
distinguished chairman of the Commerce Committee walked in for a 
moment. 

[[Page S1387]]

  The bill on illegal immigration is a very important bill. We ought to 
protect our borders. We ought to take it up, in my view, separately. On 
the bill on legal immigration, I have already stated my intention to 
introduce an amendment, but I think it worthwhile to make this 
statement in the Chamber of the Senate so it will appear in the 
Congressional Record and my colleagues and others will have notice as 
to what I intend to do.
  But the amendment would make the following changes. First it would 
increase the worldwide level of employment-based visas from 90,000 to 
135,000 a year. Second, it would eliminate the fee that employers must 
pay for each immigrant employee they sponsor, which is now $10,000 or 
10 percent of the employee's compensation annually, whichever is 
greater. Third, my amendment would eliminate the fee that certain 
employers must pay for each temporary foreign worker that they employ.
  Next, it restores the maximum length of the H visa to 6 years and the 
maximum length of the L visa to 7 years. Next, it restores the 
``Outstanding Researchers and Professors,'' which is a category that is 
exempt from the labor market screening requirement. It also eliminates 
the requirement that employers must pay foreign workers 105 percent of 
prevailing wages.
  Mr. President, there has been an effort made to limit legal 
immigration under the general guise of protecting American workers. But 
I believe this bill is exactly wrong and exactly counterproductive 
because the kinds of people who are going to be excluded from this bill 
are Ph.D.'s, scientists, M.D.'s, and those who have great proficiency 
and capability for adding much to employment potential in this country.
  In 1989-90, I sponsored the lead amendment to add people to come in 
people who were in demand in industry. I did that because the chamber 
of commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers were 
interested in that as a job-producing approach. Again, this year, after 
having meetings with extensive numbers of my constituents in 
Pennsylvania, both in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, I have found that 
there is a tremendous demand for these highly skilled people, and that 
the people are not available in the United States to take the jobs. 
Rather than decreasing employment opportunities for American workers, 
the bringing in of these additional people will increase the employment 
opportunities.
  I also say, Mr. President, that Americans should never lose sight of 
the fact that this is a nation of immigrants. It is something that I 
feel particularly strongly about since both of my parents were 
immigrants.
  My father came to the United States at the age of 18, literally 
walked across Europe from the Ukraine with barely a ruble in his 
pocket, rode steerage, the bottom of the boat, to come to America for a 
better life for himself and his family.
  My father was a great contributor to the United States. He did not 
know when he came over steerage he had a round-trip ticket back to 
Europe, back to France, not to Paris and the Follies Bergere, but to 
the Argonne Forest, where he served with great pride in the United 
States Army. He rose to the rank of buck private. I say that somewhat 
facetiously because my dad was at the bottom of the totem pole in rank 
but at the top of the totem pole in dedication, loyalty, bravery.

  In the Argonne Forest, he sustained shrapnel in his legs, wounds he 
carried with him until the day he died. But he was a great American, a 
great contributor to this country. He was an immigrant. If he had been 
barred from the United States, I would not be in the U.S. Senate today. 
In fact, I would not be.
  My mother, too, came as an immigrant, as a child of 5 with her 
parents from a small town on the Russian-Polish border. She, too, was a 
great American, raising a family. My brother, two sisters and I have 
had the advantage of an education in America and have been able to 
share in the American dream, as have so many Americans. More than 
sharing in the American dream, the immigrants have created the American 
dream. This is a factor that I think has to be borne in mind.
  I talked to my distinguished colleague, Senator Simpson, about this 
bill. Senator Simpson made the unusual effort of coming to see me 
twice. When Senator Simpson walked in, he said, ``I've been here for 
lunch frequently with the Wednesday Group, but I never looked at the 
pictures.'' I showed Senator Simpson a picture of Mordecai Shem, my 
mother's father, who came in 1905, another great American. I showed him 
a picture of my father in military uniform marrying my mother in St. 
Joe in 1919.
  I said to Senator Simpson, ``I'm going to agree with you on just 
about nothing on this immigration bill.'' I think the future of our 
country is wrapped up in inviting these highly skilled, highly trained 
immigrants to create more jobs and more prosperity in America.

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