[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 48 (Tuesday, April 16, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3346-S3348]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      IMMIGRATION CONTROL AND FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT OF 1996

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, since we have just turned to the illegal 
immigration reform bill, I ask the indulgence of the two managers for a 
few minutes. I want to pay tribute to my friend and colleague, the 
senior Senator from Wyoming. For some 17 years--really, 17 years plus--
Senator Simpson has taken on the difficult and often thankless task in 
dealing with the immigration issue, an issue which stirs the emotions, 
and one which people become very passionate about. He has always taken 
on this task with spirit, diligence and intelligence. His views were 
always thoughtful.
  From time to time, I have disagreed with my friend from Wyoming on 
some immigration issues, but the record should be crystal clear that my 
friend from Wyoming is a man of great good will, a good will he brings 
to this issue. He often takes unfair criticism. Indeed, to borrow one 
of many pithy phrases I will soon miss from my friend, my friend has 
had several metric tons of garbage dumped on him over this issue--
although garbage is not the exact word he uses. The abuse is very much 
undeserved.
  I express my warmth, affection, and respect for my friend from 
Wyoming as we continue this important debate, and respect for his 
staff, also, which has worked so hard on these issues. I want him to 
know that I, as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, particularly 
appreciate his help and his work in the markup of this very important 
bill. I just want him to know how much we respect him and others who 
are working on this bill, as well.
  Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I do thank my friend and colleague from 
Utah. It is a great pleasure always to work with Senator Orrin Hatch. 
We have done that, now, for 17\1/2\ years together. There is not a 
person I enjoy more--his spirit, energy, and background as a pugilist, 
which has certainly helped him. Would that I had studied pugilism as he 
had in my youth, because he gives as good as he gets. He is a wonderful 
friend, and I thank him.
  As we proceed to these next 2 days, this issue is such a marvelous 
issue, filled simply with emotion, fear, guilt, and racism, and it is a 
political loser. It has never pushed me up a peg in political life, but 
somebody has to do this particular work, and the Senator has given me 
the ability and the leeway to go forward with it as your subcommittee 
chairman. I am deeply appreciative of it.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The bill clerk 
proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. KYL. 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. KYL. Mr. President, let me begin by applauding the leadership of 
Senators Simpson and Hatch and the rest of the Judiciary Committee in 
passing out of the committee this very important immigration bill to 
stem the tide of illegal immigration in our country, both among those 
who come here illegally and those who come here legally but who do not 
leave our country when their visas expire. It has been said before 
that, according to the INS, these visa overstayers represent about 50 
percent of the illegal population.
  The bill we are debating this week also includes provisions to crack 
down on criminal aliens and alien smugglers and to ensure that neither 
illegal nor legal immigrants come to the United States to take jobs 
from taxpayers or to depend upon our Nation's welfare benefits.
  There will be an effort on the floor to pass a sense-of-the-Senate 
resolution declaring that any attempt to reform laws related to legal 
immigration should be considered separately from illegal immigration 
reform. I oppose this effort and will speak against it when it is 
offered.

[[Page S3347]]

  I plan to offer an amendment with Senator Simpson that will provide a 
temporary 10-percent reduction in overall legal immigration. This is a 
very modest reduction, but it will at least provide a sharp contrast to 
the increase in immigration that will result under the bill as it was 
amended in the committee.
  It is important to make clear that immigration will not be reduced 
under the committee bill. Immigration will increase at a slightly 
lesser rate than under current law, but it will increase.
  Having said that, Mr. President, I move to the bill we are debating 
today and one of great importance to the Nation, and specifically to my 
home State of Arizona. Immigration and Naturalization Service figures 
show that illegal immigrants are entering Arizona at a faster rate than 
they are entering any other State. Over the past year, Arizona has 
surpassed even Texas in illegal immigrant apprehensions. California is 
the only State with higher apprehension levels, and although 
apprehensions have decreased somewhat in what had been the hot spot for 
illegal entry in Nogales, AZ, apprehensions for March 1995 to March 
1996 have increased over 300 percent in the Nation's newest hot spot 
for illegal entry, Douglas, AZ.
  Mr. President, I was in Douglas, AZ, just about a week ago, in fact, 
a week ago yesterday, and visited with community leaders and with 
Immigration and Naturalization Service employees. The situation in 
Douglas is extraordinary, to say the least, with thousands of illegal 
entrants into the country every month. As a matter of fact, in the 
first 2 months of this year already, more people had been apprehended 
than in all of last year. What has happened is that as the INS has put 
more agents in Texas and in the San Diego area of California, the 
illegal immigration naturally shifted to Arizona, first the port of 
Nogales, where last year that was the hottest spot in Arizona. Now, 
with more agents having been put in Nogales the people are moving from 
there, east, to Douglas and crossing the border in that very small 
community. As a result, it is very, very important that there be 
additional support provided for the Immigration and Naturalization 
Service in the Douglas area, including the addition of more agents.
  I note that at the moment, there are some 60 temporary agents, but 
under labor union contracts they can only be assigned away from their 
permanent station for, I think, a period of 30 days. In any event, 60 
people translates into 15 people on the ground at any given time. There 
needs to be an additional allocation of agents to the Douglas area. 
According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, illegal 
immigrants comprise about 10 percent of the work force in Arizona.
  In addition, according to Governor Fife Symington, Arizona incurs 
costs of $30 million every year to incarcerate criminal aliens. The 
State also spends $55 million annually in Arizona taxpayer money to 
provide free education to persons who are in this country illegally. 
Clearly, illegal immigration imposes great costs on our citizens.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Grassley). The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. KYL. 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. KYL. Mr. President, I will continue on with my comments.
  Arizona is not the only State dramatically affected by illegal 
immigration. The INS estimates that there are 4 million illegal 
immigrants in the United States and that this number is growing by 
300,000 to 400,000 each year.
  While the United States has always been, and should continue to be, a 
land of opportunity for U.S. citizens and for those who come here 
illegally, we simply cannot afford as a nation to continue to incur the 
unrestrained costs of illegal immigration--in jobs, in welfare, in 
education, in health care, in crime on our streets, and on our penal 
system. To illustrate the effect, consider that over one-quarter of all 
Federal prisoners are foreign-born, up from 4 percent as recently as 
1980. Again, over 25 percent of all Federal prisoners are foreign-born. 
It was only 4 percent just 15 years ago.
  As we all know, yesterday was tax day. It is not fair, given our $5 
trillion debt and annual $200 million in deficit spending, to ask law-
abiding taxpayers to pay for those who choose to violate our laws to 
come to this country illegally, or even to pay for legal immigrants 
who, once here, quickly come to depend on our Nation for welfare and 
other public benefits.
  S. 1664 will go a long way toward eliminating those incentives. Under 
the bill, illegal immigrants are banned from almost all public benefits 
programs outright and legal immigrants will have to work 40 quarters 
before becoming eligible for most benefits. I was pleased that the 
committee passed a number of amendments I offered to deal with this 
general issue: these include requiring the Education Department to 
report to Congress on the effectiveness of a new system designed to 
ensure that ineligible aliens do not receive higher education benefits, 
and requiring the Federal Government to reimburse States for the costs 
of providing emergency medical services and ambulance services also 
passed. The latter was offered on behalf of Senator McCain. I also plan 
to offer an amendment during this debate to ensure that, as the House 
did, illegal aliens do not receive assisted government housing 
benefits.
  So that aliens do not come to this country illegally and take jobs 
away from law-abiding taxpayers, the bill directs the Attorney General 
to conduct regional and local pilot employer verification projects to 
ensure that employees are eligible to work in the United States. 
Employers are already required to fill out the I-9 form to verify the 
eligibility of employees. However, the I-9 system is open to fraud and 
abuse--participants in the new system will be, for the most part, 
exempt from the I-9 requirement. An improved verification system will 
protect employers from unintentionally hiring illegal aliens and also 
protect potential job applicants from discrimination. The bill 
specifically prohibits the establishment of any national ID card. 
Employee verification can only be used after an employee is offered a 
job, and would require a subsequent vote in Congress before a national 
system could be established. I was pleased that the committee passed my 
amendments to limit liability and cost to employers who participate in 
any system.

  Importantly, this bill will assist our Government in its primary 
responsibility; protecting U.S. borders and enforcing U.S. laws. After 
all, we are a nation of laws. We cannot turn a blind eye to those who 
break our immigration laws. We simply cannot afford to anymore. We must 
gain greater control over our Nation's borders, prevent illegal entry 
and smuggling, and detain and swiftly deport criminal aliens. S. 1664 
will help achieve these objectives. Increasing the number of Border 
Patrol agents, and improving technology and equipment at the border has 
been one of my priorities, so I was particularly pleased that the 
committee adopted my amendments to train 1,000 new Border Patrol agents 
through the year 2000 and to require, as recommended by Sandia Labs in 
1993, the construction of a triple-tier deterrence fence along the San 
Diego border; and to increase the number of INS detention spaces to 
9,000 by the year 1997. This increase in detention space will raise by 
66 percent detention space available to the INS to detain criminal 
aliens awaiting deportation and other aliens who are at risk of not 
showing up for deportation or other proceedings. The bill also requires 
the Attorney General to report to Congress on how many excludable or 
deportable aliens within the last 3 years have been released onto our 
Nation's streets because of a lack of detention facilities.
  In addition, the bill allows the Attorney General to acquire U.S. 
Government surplus equipment to improve detection, interdiction, and 
reduction of illegal immigration, including drug trafficking, and 
allows volunteers to assist in processing at ports of entry and in 
criminal alien removal. These provisions will go a long way toward 
effective control and operation of our Nation's borders.
  In addition to more effectively controlling our border, further 
modification of our laws is needed to create disincentives for 
individuals to enter the

[[Page S3348]]

United States illegally. I plan to offer two additional amendments to 
deal with this issue. The first would amend section 245(i) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act, so that illegal aliens who become 
eligible for an immigrant visa can no longer attain the visa by paying 
a fee that lifts the requirement to depart the United States. Section 
245(i) encourages people who are awaiting an immigrant visa to jump 
illegally ahead of others, simply by paying a fee. Senator Hutchison 
and I also plan to offer an amendment that, with a number of 
exceptions, would exclude for 10 years those who have entered without 
inspection from obtaining a visa.
  S. 1664 also makes clear that you cannot skirt the law by entering 
the country legally and then overstaying a visa. Another amendment I 
offered that the subcommittee adopted requires individuals who have 
overstayed their visas to return home to obtain another visa, period. 
And, the last successful amendment regarding overstayers, offered by 
Senator Abraham and cosponsored by me, requires visa overstayers to 
return home for 3 years before applying for another visa. While this 
last amendment goes far, I plan to offer an amendment with Senator 
Hutchison that would, with a number of exceptions, exclude for 10 years 
those individuals who have overstayed their visas for more than a year.
  For those individuals who come to this country and commit crimes--and 
there are 450,000 criminal in jails and at large in this country--there 
are provisions in the bill to keep them off our streets and deport more 
quickly. I am pleased that a bill I introduced last year, to encourage 
the President to renegotiate prison transfer treaties so that aliens 
convicted of crimes can no longer choose whether or not they serve out 
their sentences here or in their home country, was added to the bill. 
Also passed was my amendment to advise the President to renegotiate 
these treaties so that if a transferred prisoner returns to the United 
States prior to the completion of a sentence, the U.S. sentence is not 
discharged. The committee also passed a number of amendments I 
cosponsored, offered by Senator Abraham, that strengthen the detainment 
and deportation of criminal aliens in other ways.
  There are a number of other provisions in this bill that are 
important, including provisions to streamline the system by which 
asylum seekers apply to stay in the United States. While refugees are 
still offered important protections, abuse of the system will be 
largely curtailed by a new system allowing specially trained asylum 
officers at ports of entry to determine if refuge seekers have a 
credible fear of persecution. If they do, then they go through the 
process of establishing a well-founded fear of persecution in order to 
stay in the United States.

  By allowing these especially trained officers to make decisions at 
ports of entry, it will be more difficult for individuals to simply 
fill out an asylum application, be released into the streets, and 
possibly never show up for asylum proceedings.
  The bill we are debating this week includes provisions that Senator 
Simpson and his staff have worked hard to develop and protect. Many of 
them are a response to the Jordan Commission recommendations. It 
includes bipartisan provisions on which Senators from both sides of the 
aisle have diligently worked.
  As we begin to consider this important bill, we have to remember 
that, unless we protect our borders and insist that our immigration 
laws are taken seriously, we undermine the law, and that undermines the 
United States as a land of opportunity for all--both foreign and native 
born. My grandparents immigrated to the United States from Holland. I 
think they would be concerned about how our immigration system works 
today.
  The American dream must be kept alive for citizens and for those who 
came here legally. A government not in control of its own borders is 
not serving the public well.
  I urge my colleagues to pass a bill that will address these important 
problems. Again, I very sincerely thank the chairman of the Immigration 
Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee for his long years of work in 
this area and for his willingness to work with everybody on the 
committee to craft the best bill possible so that he can begin to deal 
with these serious problems.
  Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Arizona. I only 
want to say that it has been a great joy to work with him on the 
Committee on Immigration. He is a remarkable contributing member, 
brings a vigor and intelligence and skill to the committee, to the 
subcommittee, and to the full committee. There could not be a finer new 
Member of the body participating in the measure, and it will be a great 
personal satisfaction for me that he will continue on with this issue. 
I certainly hope, also, that it might be in the capacity as chairman of 
the Subcommittee on Immigration.
  I know that Senator Kennedy will work with whoever my successor will 
be, and I think we will find certainly a great deal of pleasure in 
working with Senator Kyl. I thank him very much for all that he has 
done.
  I yield to Senator Bryan of Nevada since the business of the floor is 
the immigration bill and since I hold the floor.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, regular order.
  Mr. SIMPSON. I hold the floor. I believe that is the case.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry.
  Mr. SIMPSON. You recognized me. I intended to yield to Senator Bryan.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kyl). The Senator will state the 
parliamentary inquiry.
  Mr. DORGAN. The Senator from Wyoming yielded to the Senator from 
Nevada for a question. Does the Senator from Wyoming control time on 
the floor of the Senate at this point?
  Mr. SIMPSON. I have the floor, Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota should be 
advised that Senator Simpson may yield to the Senator from Nevada with 
consent.
  Is there any objection?
  Mr. DORGAN. I object.
  Mr. DORGAN addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. DORGAN addressed the Chair.
  Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, what is the status of the situation on 
the floor at the present time? Objection is sustained and not----
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. At the present time, I will advise the Senator 
from Wyoming that, absent unanimous consent to do otherwise, the 
Senate, under the previous order, will resume consideration of S. 1664.
  Mr. SIMPSON. Yes. But after the objection, then there is no yielding 
of any measure to the Senator from North Dakota. He does not then take 
the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry.
  Mr. SIMPSON. This Senator, I am advised and wanted to be absolutely 
certain, does control the floor, and I can yield to the Senator from 
Nevada, and at the end of that time I intend to yield to the Senator 
from Wisconsin, Senator Feingold, and to Senator Grassley, because we 
are doing an immigration bill. We are not doing Social Security. We are 
not doing balanced budgets this morning.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry.
  Mr. SIMPSON. Those are subjects that the Senator from North Dakota 
would like to address.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.

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