[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 57 (Tuesday, April 30, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4396-S4399]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IMMIGRATION CONTROL AND FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT OF 1996
The Senate continued with the consideration of the bill.
Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the present
amendment be set aside so that I may offer an amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
Amendment No. 3809 to Amendment No. 3743
(Purpose: To adjust the definition of public charge)
Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Illinois [Mr. Simon] proposes an amendment
numbered 3809 to amendment No. 3743.
Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the
amendment be dispensed with.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment is as follows:
In Section 202(a), at page 190, strike line 16 and all that
follows through line 25 and insert the following:
``(v) Any State general cash assistance program.
``(vi) Financial assistance as defined in section 214(b) of
the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980.''.
Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, my amendment conforms the Senate amendment
to a similar provision in the House amendment in terms of being
eligible for deportation if you are here illegally and you use Federal
programs of assistance.
Under the Senate bill, an immigrant receiving public assistance for
12 months within his first year in the United States may be deported as
a public charge. That would include, for example, higher education
assistance. The Presiding Officer, the Senator from Indiana, is on the
Labor and Human Resources Committee. If a legal resident came in and
got job training, under this amendment, unless we conform it to the
House amendment, that would make you subject to deportation. If one of
your children got into Head Start, that would do it.
My amendment would make this bill precisely like the House bill and
limit the assistance to the basis for deportation to AFDC, SSI, and,
frankly, SSI is the program that is being abused. As to the other
welfare programs, legal immigrants to our country use these programs
less than native-born Americans. But my amendment would limit the AFDC,
SSI, food stamps, Medicaid, housing, and State cash assistance.
I think it makes sense. I cannot imagine any reason for opposition.
But I see my friend from Wyoming is not on the floor right now. I am
not sure what his disposition may be on this amendment. But I would be
happy to answer any questions that my colleagues have.
Mr. President, if no one else seeks the floor, I ask to set aside my
amendment so that I may offer a second amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
Amendment No. 3810 to Amendment No. 3743
(Purpose: To exempt from deeming requirements immigrants who are
disabled after entering the United States)
Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Illinois [Mr. Simon] proposes an amendment
numbered 3810 to amendment No. 3743.
Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the
amendment be dispensed with.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment is as follows:
In section 204, at page 201, after line 4, insert the
following subparagraph (4):
(4) Aliens disabled after entry.--The requirements of
subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to any alien who
has been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent
residence, and who since the date of such lawful admission,
has become blind or disabled, as those terms are defined in
the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 1382j(f).
Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, I see my colleague from California, who has
greater concern in these areas than any other, for obvious reasons,
because of the huge impact on California.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. If the Chair could interrupt the Senator for a
moment, the allocated time under the previous unanimous-consent
agreement has expired on the Democrat side of the aisle. Time could be
yielded from the Republican side of the aisle for the Senator from
Illinois to continue.
Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, I confess some lack of understanding of
precisely where we are in terms of the parliamentary situation.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate is operating under a unanimous-
consent agreement which provided time equally between the two sides to
expire at 2:45. The time allocated to the Democrat side of the aisle
has been utilized.
Mr. LOTT addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi.
Mr. LOTT. I will be happy on behalf of our side to yield 2 minutes to
the Senator from Illinois if that will be helpful.
Mr. SIMON. I thank the Senator from Mississippi.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois is recognized for 2
minutes.
Mr. SIMON. My second amendment simply says--and I will just read it:
The requirements of subsection (a)--
That is deportation.--
Shall not apply with respect to any alien who has been
lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent
residence and who since the date of such lawful admission has
become blind or disabled, as those terms are defined in the
Social Security Act.
[[Page S4397]]
This amendment, I would add, is supported by State and local
governments.
I think there is consensus that while you may want to deport people
who are taking advantage of welfare generally, someone who has become
totally disabled is in a very different kind of situation.
This exempts them from deeming, not deportation.
Again, our colleague from Wyoming is not here, so I would ask
unanimous consent that it also be set aside while we proceed to vote on
the other amendments.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is
so ordered. The amendment is set aside. The Senator from Massachusetts.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, are we under a time limitation now prior
to 2:45 or can we use our own time?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. There are 2\1/2\ minutes remaining under the
previous time agreement controlled by the majority.
Mr. DODD addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
Amendment No. 3760
Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I wonder if I might speak in opposition to
the Graham amendment for 1 minute while we are waiting.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? The Senator is recognized
to speak for 1 minute.
Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues.
I just did not realize the language of this amendment was coming up.
I say to my colleagues here--and I suspect this may carry fairly
overwhelmingly--I hope people understand this applies to illegal
aliens, not legal aliens. So you illegally arrive anywhere in the
United States from Cuba. You are given a status we do not give anywhere
else in the world. You arrive from the People's Republic of China. You
do not get this status. You arrive from North Korea. You do not get
this status. You arrive from Vietnam, still a Communist country. You do
not get this status.
So here we are taking one fact situation, no matter how meritorious
people may argue, and applying a totally different standard here for
one group of people and not to others. If you come to this country from
the People's Republic of China, you have lived under an oppressive
government, and we are making a case here that if you come out of Cuba,
even as an illegal, that you get automatic status here. Why do we not
apply that to billions of other people who live under oppressive
regimes?
I would say as well, in 30 additional seconds, if I may, Mr.
President.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is
so ordered.
Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I would say to my colleagues, the people of
Florida, too, I might point out, have their economic pressures as well.
Frankly, having people just show up and all of a sudden given legal
status automatically by arriving, I think is creating incredible
pressures there. And if we are going to do it there, then I would
suggest we go to another place.
I urge that this amendment be rejected, come back with an amendment
that covers people who come from all Communist governments, not just
this one. If we are truly committed to that, then people all over this
globe who live under that kind of system ought to be given the same
status.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time of the Senator has expired.
Under the previous order, the vote occurs on amendment No. 3760,
offered by the Senator from Florida [Mr. Graham]. The vote occurs on
the conditional repeal of the Cuban Adjustment Act, on a democratically
elected government in Cuba being in power. The yeas and nays have been
ordered.
Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, under the unanimous consent, was there not
an opportunity for a minute to present the amendment prior to the vote?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. It was the understanding of the Chair that
that time was subsumed within the additional 30 minutes allocated for
debate. Without a unanimous-consent request and agreement----
Mr. GRAHAM. I would ask unanimous consent for 1 minute on the
amendment prior to the vote.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I think it would be appropriate to each
take 1 minute, and I would like to do that.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, the
time will be equally divided, 1 minute each, between the majority and
minority.
Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to listen to this
because there have been some myths and misstatements with regard to the
Cuban Democracy Act. The Cuban Democracy Act, which has been the law of
this land since November 2, 1966, explicitly states that it only
applies to aliens who have been inspected and admitted or paroled into
the United States. You do not get the benefit of the Cuban Adjustment
Act unless you are here under one of those legal status conditions,
have been here for a year, request the Attorney General to exercise her
discretionary authority, and she elects to do so.
That is what the current law is. That is the law which I believe
should continue in effect until there is a certification that a
democratic government is now in control of Cuba. The law was passed for
both humanitarian and pragmatic reasons, to provide a means of
expeditious adjustment of status of the thousands of persons who are
coming from a Communist regime, not halfway around the world but 90
miles off of our shore. The simple reason that was relevant in 1966 is
applicable in 1996, and therefore the law should be retained until
democracy returns to Cuba.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time of the Senator has expired.
The Senator from Wyoming.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, it was never referred to as the Cuban
Democracy Act. There is no such provision. It was passed to allow the
adjustment of hundreds of thousands of Cubans fleeing Castro's
communism. They were welcomed with open arms. We have done that. They
were given parole. They needed a means to adjust.
You can come here legally and violate your tourist visa, stay for a
year, and you get a green card. You can come here on a boat illegally
and after 1 year get a green card. We do not do that with anyone else
in the world, and we are trying to discourage irregular patterns of
immigration by Cubans. We expect them to apply at our interest section
in Havana.
We do not need it. It is a remnant of the past. We have provided for
the Cubans. Please hear this. We have provided in this measure for the
Cubans coming under the United States-Cuba Immigration Agreement that
was entered into between President Clinton and the Cuban Government. We
should repeal it. It discriminates in favor of Cubans to the detriment
of all other nationalities.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the question is on
agreeing to the amendment, No. 3760, offered by Senator Graham of
Florida. The yeas and nays have been ordered.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. LOTT. I announce that the Senator from Tennessee [Mr. Thompson]
is necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Frist). Are there any other Senators in
the Chamber who desire to vote?
The result was announced, yeas 62, nays 37, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 91 Leg.]
YEAS--62
Abraham
Baucus
Bennett
Biden
Bond
Bradley
Breaux
Bryan
Burns
Cohen
Conrad
Coverdell
Craig
D'Amato
DeWine
Dole
Domenici
Dorgan
Faircloth
Ford
Frist
Glenn
Gorton
Graham
Gramm
Gregg
Hatch
Heflin
Helms
Hollings
Hutchison
Inhofe
Kempthorne
Kerrey
Kerry
Kohl
Kyl
Lautenberg
Leahy
Lieberman
Lott
Lugar
Mack
McCain
McConnell
Mikulski
Murkowski
Nickles
Nunn
Pressler
Pryor
Reid
Robb
Rockefeller
Santorum
Sarbanes
Smith
Snowe
Specter
Stevens
Thomas
Warner
NAYS--37
Akaka
Ashcroft
Bingaman
Boxer
Brown
Bumpers
Byrd
Campbell
Chafee
Coats
Cochran
Daschle
Dodd
Exon
Feingold
Feinstein
Grams
Grassley
Harkin
Hatfield
Inouye
Jeffords
Johnston
Kassebaum
Kennedy
Levin
Moseley-Braun
Moynihan
Murray
Pell
Roth
Shelby
Simon
Simpson
Thurmond
Wellstone
Wyden
[[Page S4398]]
NOT VOTING--1
Thompson
So the amendment (No. 3760) was agreed to.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
Mr. SIMPSON addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming is recognized.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I believe under the previous order we now
go to the next amendment with a 1 minute explanation on each side. Is
that correct?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.
Mr. GRAHAM addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
Amendment No. 3803
Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, the second amendment relates to the issue
of deeming, that is, counting the income of the sponsor to that of the
alien. Under the current law there are three categories in which this
is done: SSI, food stamps, and aid to families with dependent children.
What is significant is that under the current law, each instance of
deeming is specifically listed. Under the legislation that is before
us, there is a vague standard which says, ``Any program which is in
whole or in part funded with Federal funds shall be deemed.''
There are literally hundreds, maybe thousands, of those types of
programs. This amendment speaks to the principle, let us continue the
policy of specifically listing all of those programs that we intend to
be deemed. We have suggested 16 programs to be deemed. It is open for
amendment if others wish to offer additional programs to be deemed. But
let us not leave this matter open-ended and as obscure as it is in the
legislation that is before us.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, the question here is, who should pay for
assistance to a new immigrant? Should the sponsor who brought the
person in the United States and made the promise, the affidavit of
support, or should the taxpayer? The bill before the Senate requires
that all means tested--I am talking only about means-tested welfare
programs--include the income of the sponsor, the person who promised
their relative would never use public assistance, when determining
whether a new arrival is eligible for assistance.
That is as simple as it can be. The only exceptions are for soup
kitchens, school lunch and WIC. That is it. This truth in application,
that is it. The U.S. Government expects sponsors to keep their promises
to care for their immigrant relatives.
The Graham amendment would gut the provisions of this bill, would
limit sponsored-alien deeming to only SSI, AFDC, food stamps, and
public housing programs, that being almost unchanged from current law.
It would exempt Medicaid, job training, legal services, a wide range of
other multibillion-dollar noncash welfare programs from welfare
provisions in the bill. I oppose the amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to amendment No.
3803. The yeas and nays have been ordered. The clerk will call the
roll.
The bill clerk called the roll.
Mr. LOTT. I announce that the Senator from Tennessee [Mr. Thompson]
is necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 36, nays 63, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 92 Leg.]
YEAS--36
Akaka
Bingaman
Boxer
Breaux
Bumpers
Byrd
Chafee
Conrad
Daschle
Dodd
Dorgan
Feinstein
Ford
Glenn
Graham
Heflin
Hollings
Inouye
Kennedy
Kerrey
Kerry
Lautenberg
Leahy
Lieberman
Mikulski
Moseley-Braun
Moynihan
Murray
Pell
Pryor
Rockefeller
Sarbanes
Simon
Specter
Wellstone
Wyden
NAYS--63
Abraham
Ashcroft
Baucus
Bennett
Biden
Bond
Bradley
Brown
Bryan
Burns
Campbell
Coats
Cochran
Cohen
Coverdell
Craig
D'Amato
DeWine
Dole
Domenici
Exon
Faircloth
Feingold
Frist
Gorton
Gramm
Grams
Grassley
Gregg
Harkin
Hatch
Hatfield
Helms
Hutchison
Inhofe
Jeffords
Johnston
Kassebaum
Kempthorne
Kohl
Kyl
Levin
Lott
Lugar
Mack
McCain
McConnell
Murkowski
Nickles
Nunn
Pressler
Reid
Robb
Roth
Santorum
Shelby
Simpson
Smith
Snowe
Stevens
Thomas
Thurmond
Warner
NOT VOTING--1
Thompson
The amendment (No. 3803) was rejected.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
Mr. KENNEDY. I move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that in
accordance with the provisions of rule XXII the following Senators be
considered as having yielded time under their control as follows:
Senator Thurmond and Senator Cohen yield 60 minutes each to Senator
Simpson; Senator Nickles and Senator Cochran yield 60 minutes each to
Senator Dole; Senator Akaka and Senator Pell yield 60 minutes each to
Senator Kennedy; Senator Ford and Senator Rockefeller yield 60 minutes
each to Senator Daschle.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senators have that right.
Amendment No. 3871, as Modified
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to make a
modification to correct a drafting error in amendment 3871. That
amendment was offered and accepted by the Senate this morning. I ask
unanimous consent to modify it as indicated in the copy I am sending to
the desk. I have reviewed that with my colleague.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? The Chair hears none, and
it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 3871), as modified, is as follows:
Section 204(a) is amended to read as follows:
(a) Deeming Requirement for Federal and Federally Funded
Programs.--Subject to subsection (d), for purposes of
determining the eligibility of an alien for benefits, and the
amount of benefits, under any Federal program of assistance,
or any program of assistance funded in whole or in part by
the Federal Government, for which eligibility for benefits is
based on need, the income and resources described in
subsection (b) shall, notwithstanding any other provision of
law, except as provided in section 204(f), be deemed to be
the income and resources of such alien.
Order of Procedure
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of a resolution I now send to
the desk on behalf of Senator D'Amato relative to the extradition of
the murderer of Leon Klinghoffer.
Mr. KENNEDY addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I do not want to and will not object, and
hopefully we will move right to that. I wanted to ask, just for the
sake of the Senate, if we could take a moment on what the schedule is.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I further ask unanimous consent that
there be 10 minutes for debate to be equally divided in the usual form.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. SIMPSON. I further ask that the vote occur on adoption of the
resolution immediately following the use or yielding back of time and
that no amendments or motions be in order.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. SIMPSON. And before that procedure, let me just review matters.
At the conclusion of this proceeding, Senator Kennedy will go to the
amendments which were discussed this morning, the deeming-parity
amendment, which are two en bloc, and the Kennedy Medicaid amendment.
There will be two rollcall votes obviously. There will be the vote on
the Klinghoffer matter apparently, and then we will go to further
debate, if any, on the two Kennedy amendments. But those will be coming
shortly, I would believe. I think that debate is pretty well concluded.
Then we will go to the debate on the driver's license issue. This is
not about verification. This is about driver's licenses. The language
of the committee amendment and the amendment at the
[[Page S4399]]
desk is much different. In this amendment we have relieved the burdens
of some national standard card; we have relieved the burdens of the
unfunded mandate, and that debate will take place. I urge all who wish
to engage in that to be prepared for that scenario. I yield to my
friend and colleague.
Mr. KENNEDY. Could I ask for the yeas and nays on amendments 3820 and
3823.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, what I would like to do since, hopefully,
those will be the two measures, is maybe just take 2 minutes now and
explain them just briefly so that at the end we will vote on the
D'Amato resolution and then hopefully vote on these two amendments.
Do I need consent to be able to proceed for 3 minutes? Do I need
consent for that now?
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, just a moment.
Mr. KENNEDY. I withdraw my request.
____________________