[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 52 (Monday, April 28, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E761]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     MASSACHUSETTS STATE SENATE URGES FAIRNESS FOR LEGAL IMMIGRANTS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BARNEY FRANK

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 28, 1997

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, earlier this month the 
Massachusetts State Senate passed a resolution urging us to reverse the 
cruel and unwise policy adopted last year in the welfare bill of 
cutting off basic income support to legal residents of this country who 
are unable to support themselves.
  I thought this was a grave error when it was proposed and worked hard 
against it. I regretted its passage and signature by the President. And 
since that time, our worst fears have come true. I've heard from people 
throughout my district about the terrible social harm that will result 
from this unjust policy. Russian Jews in the northern part of my 
district who came to the United States as refugees from Communist anti-
Semitism; hard-working elderly Portuguese immigrants who came to this 
country and worked hard for some time before illness struck them; Indo-
Chinese residents who came to the United States because they had been 
supportive of our efforts during the Vietnam war--these are examples of 
the decent, hard-working, wholly innocent people who are victims of 
last year's grave error.
  The Massachusetts Legislature is trying to address this, but it is an 
outrage for this Congress to impose on the States the financial 
responsibility that ought to rest at the Federal level. States have 
enough financial problems without being forced to serve as a backup for 
Federal callousness. Mr. Speaker, the Massachusetts Senate, composed of 
elected officials who live day to day with this problem and fully 
understand it, expresses the point very well and I congratulate Senator 
Linda Melconian for taking the lead on this issue and I ask that the 
resolution adopted by the Massachusetts Senate be printed here.

 Resolutions Urging the President of the United States and the United 
     States Congress to Restore Federally Funded Benefits to Legal 
                Immigrants Residing in the United States

       Whereas, in August of Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-six, the 
     United States Congress enacted the Personal Responsibility 
     and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, so-called; 
     and
       Whereas, Congress in said Act forbade use of Federal funds 
     to provide benefits for financially needy immigrants lawfully 
     residing in the United States; and
       Whereas, legal immigrants pay taxes and contribute in many 
     ways to the productivity and vitality of our communities; and
       Whereas, the United States was founded and built by 
     immigrants; and
       Whereas, because Congress has abdicated its financial 
     responsibility, the financial burden of the action by 
     Congress falls unfairly on the States and needy residents of 
     the States; now therefore be it
       Resolved, That the Massachusetts Senate respectfully 
     requests that the President and the Congress of the United 
     States restore to the States the authority to provide 
     Federally funded benefits to needy, lawful residents of the 
     United States; and be it further
       Resolved, That the Massachusetts Senate respectfully 
     requests that the United States Congress and the President 
     restore to the Commonwealth adequate Federal funding to allow 
     for the provision of benefits for financially needy 
     immigrants lawfully residing in this Commonwealth; and be it 
     further
       Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted 
     forthwith by the Clerk of the Senate to the President of the 
     United States of America, the Presiding Officer of each 
     branch of the United States Congress, and each member of the 
     Massachusetts Congressional Delegation.

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