[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 138 (Monday, September 30, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11850-S11851]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               OMNIBUS CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS, 1997

  The Senate continued with the consideration of the bill.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I want to speak on the bill that is 
before us and just on a very small portion of it, the immigration bill. 
Obviously, the immigration bill is not just a small portion of the bill 
that is before us. It is perhaps one of the most important aspects of 
the bill before us. But what I meant was, I do not want to speak to the 
appropriations part of the bill.
  I want to voice my strong support for the illegal immigration bill. 
This has been included, as everyone knows, as part of the continuing 
resolution. Senator Simpson, chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee, 
has worked diligently to bring this bill forward.
  I am very pleased to have worked with him in creating solutions to 
the immigration problems that our country is facing today and, also, to 
take time to compliment Senator Simpson for the hard work that he has 
given for the people of his State of Wyoming to the United States as a 
Member of the U.S. Senate. He is now retiring. Those of us who have 
served with him on the Judiciary Committee, and a considerable amount 
of time together with him on the Immigration Subcommittee, are surely 
going to miss his leadership in this area.
  This bill that is before us even under these extraordinary 
circumstances of its being part of the omnibus bill, even under those 
circumstances, should not detract from the hard work that has gone on 
in this Congress on this legislation that Senator Simpson has put 
together. He has produced a very strong bipartisan bill that will help 
us make a huge impact on the problems of illegal immigration.
  In the last 2 years, Senator Simpson has made a great effort to deal 
with illegal immigration. We have done it by providing over $1 billion 
in new funding. But we all know that comprehensive legislation, like 
the bill before us, is necessary before we are ever going to be 
successful, or whether or not even that additional billion dollars in 
the war on illegal immigrants is going to be successfully spent.
  Provisions of the bill provide for more effective deportation 
measures, increased border and investigative staffing, and stricter 
employment and welfare standards. It is exactly measures such as these 
that are necessary to combat the growing problem of illegal 
immigration.
  Illegal immigration is an issue that has been in the forefront of 
public debate for some time right now. It is a growing problem that 
affects even the smallest towns in the Midwest.
  The problem became graphic to me in January 1995 when an Iowa college 
student named Justin Younie was murdered by an illegal alien who had 
been removed from the State of Iowa once before because of his illegal 
status. Unfortunately, this particular illegal alien came back to the 
United States and to my State of Iowa without any problems. That is the 
case with so many illegal aliens returning, only this time, this 
person, this illegal alien, ended up committing murder. This person has 
since been convicted of this horrible crime. That does not bring back 
the life of Mr. Younie. But it does set the stage for a very important 
provision that I have in this bill allowing local law enforcement 
people to be involved in the arrest of an illegal alien if the only 
thing they have done wrong is being in this country illegally. I know 
it is not understandable to people who for the last 20 years, there has 
been a regulation saying that local law enforcement people cannot 
arrest an illegal alien just because they are here illegally. But that 
is the situation.

  We have another example beyond this murder of the reach of illegal 
immigration, and it was featured in the U.S. News & World Report of 
September 13, 1996, and on the cover story. It addressed illegal 
immigration and its effects on the small town of Storm Lake, IA. 
Specifically, the article focused on the meatpacking industry, which, 
since its opening in 1982, has experienced a large influx of illegal 
immigrants. The effects on the town of Storm Lake have been very 
significant. Along with a population increase has come increased crime 
rates, increased education expenditures, racial problems, and economic 
concerns causing great resentment within the community.
  According to the article, the increase in illegal immigrants to the 
town can

[[Page S11851]]

be attributed to the job opportunities offered by this meatpacking 
industry. Apparently, workers are recruited by immigrants already 
working at the plant. Once these workers are recruited, they illegally 
cross the border, obtain a false identity, and begin work. As workers 
are injured, or the plant is raided by the INS, new workers are hired 
to fill the empty positions. This process ensures a continuous demand 
for workers which has been so steady that it has reportedly spawned a 
sort of underground railroad from Mexico to the town of Storm Lake, IA.
  It is because of situations like these--the meatpacking story in 
Storm Lake and the murder of Justin Younie in Iowa--that the illegal 
immigration conference report is being discussed here today. Provisions 
in this act address illegal immigration problems at every level, from 
Border Patrol to deportation. The act takes direct steps to reduce 
crime associated with illegal immigration and provides States with 
incentives to do the same.
  Among the hundreds of provisions in this bill are a number of 
initiatives that I fought for as a member of the Judiciary Committee 
and, as well, as a conferee. For instance, this bill allows the 
Attorney General to enter into agreements with local law enforcement, 
permitting, as I said, for the first time since 1977 local authorities 
to apprehend, detain, and transport illegal aliens. This is an 
especially important step for the interior States, such as my State of 
Iowa, that are distant from the borders.
  Just a few weeks ago local police had to release a truckload of 
illegal aliens because the INS wouldn't--or, as they might say, 
``couldn't''--respond just then. But they used the argument that there 
were less than 20 illegals in the group. So it was too small of a group 
for them to mess around with. Obviously, it is better from that 
judgment to wait until they find their way into a job and into the 
underground economy, get lost, and then spend thousands of dollars more 
to apprehend the very same people. But they were in the custody for a 
short period of time of these local law enforcement people.
  So it is obvious that local law enforcement needs more tools like we 
are now providing to fight illegal immigrants.
  In addition, because of my insistence, the conference included a 
guarantee that each State will have at least 10 agents. This will help 
States like Iowa that do not have any agents right now when illegal 
immigration is growing at a rapid pace.
  The conference committee also included a provision of mine to exempt 
nonprofits and churches from the time-consuming and costly paperwork of 
verification and deeming. Unfortunately, the administration made the 
mistake of demanding the provision be changed in the last-minute 
negotiations last week on title V.
  I might say at this point that my staff got a call about 1:30 
Saturday morning to discuss some changes in this language. That is not 
a very good way to write a piece of legislation. And we are going to 
pay the consequences for it on this because this resulting language is 
inferior to what I had agreed to in conference, and that was a 
bipartisan agreement.
  At least on the face of it, nonprofits will be exempt from the new 
provision. But the question of when and how people can be served by 
nonprofits and any resulting paperwork requirement will unfortunately 
be left to regulations promulgated by the Attorney General. The former 
conference language that we had worked out provided protections from 
regulations. But the administration language does not. I think this 
will have to be remedied in legislation next year because we are going 
to have potential problems on this.
  Nevertheless, I am satisfied with another provision concerning 
congressional participation.
  This provision requires that when we proceed with the verification 
pilot projects for employers, Congress and the Federal Government will 
be a part of those projects. The only way that we are going to know if 
these really work or not is if we, in the Congress, are a part of them. 
That is a followup of my legislation, the first bill passed by a 
Republican Congress in 40 years, the first bill signed by President 
Clinton going way back to January of 1995, a bill where after 6 years 
we finally ended the exemption that Members of Congress as employers 
had from Federal law--civil rights, labor and safety legislation, among 
others, which we had exempted ourselves from that apply to the rest of 
the country.
  That legislation has passed, so we are no longer exempt from those 
laws. There is no longer two sets of laws, one for Capitol Hill and one 
for the rest of the United States. There is one set of laws that 
applies equally.
  When it comes to this verification pilot project for employers, it 
seems to me that we in the Federal Government ought to be participating 
in these projects and then we are going to know firsthand the redtape 
that small business or large business even has to go through to meet 
the requirements of our immigration law. Then in a few years when we go 
down the road to making a final decision whether or not this new 
verification procedure goes into place, we are going to do it not from 
the standpoint of just what our constituents are telling us, as so very 
important as that is, we are also going to know firsthand what is 
involved with this project and the impact it is going to have upon 
employers of America because we are employers in the sense that we, as 
Members of Congress, hire staff. And if the small business people ought 
to go through a certain process under this project, we ought to as well 
so we know firsthand what the situation is.
  In conclusion, Mr. President, anyone who does not support this bill 
is just not serious about dealing with illegal immigration. Although 
many of the provisions of this bill could have been tougher, there has 
been a strong effort to achieve bipartisan support. I look forward to 
this bill becoming law, and I commend Senator Simpson for the 
incredible job he has done with this legislation.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Gorton). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BOND. 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. BOND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to be permitted to 
proceed for 5 minutes as if in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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