[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 85 (Wednesday, June 18, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5921-S5922]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     CONGRATULATIONS TO CIA AND FBI

  Mr. FAIRCLOTH. Madam President, I take the floor today to 
congratulate the Central Intelligence Agency and the FBI for their 
efforts in capturing the terrorist who killed two CIA officers in 1993.
  Many thought when Aimal Kansi disappeared into Pakistan in 1993 that 
he would never be caught. I believe that our men and women who played a 
role in his capture deserve our thanks for the brave effort they went 
through to catch him.
  Another critical question that I do not think has been answered is 
why was Mr. Kansi ever allowed in this country in the first place? Why 
was he here to begin with? He came here in 1991, apparently well 
educated, as a Pakistani immigrant. He came here on a business visa. 
Supposedly, he came here for 1 month. He used false names and 
passports, and then the INS gave him a 1-year work visa. Of course, the 
plan was that he wanted to stay here forever. There was never any doubt 
about what he wanted. He wanted to be here permanently. A year later, 
he applied for political asylum. The political asylum issue has been 
abused to a greater degree than anything I can think of. The Clinton 
administration has made an absolute mockery of the words ``political 
asylum.'' There are almost 100,000 applications for political asylum 
each year.

  Now, here is the scandal. When someone has applied for political 
asylum, they cannot be deported. When you apply for political asylum, 
you cannot be deported. This application is a complete ruse for people 
to stay in this country illegally. These people can stay here for 
years. Now, one of the reasons this man sought asylum--if you can get 
this--and talk about stupidity on the part of this country--is that he 
is part of a militant group in Pakistan that opposes United States 
policies. That is the reason he needed asylum, so he could stay in this 
country.
  Mr. Kansi apparently moved about frequently. He worked at gas 
stations and as a courier in Virginia. Madam President, why do we need 
people coming into this country to work at a gasoline station and as a 
courier? Is this

[[Page S5922]]

something we really need to grant a work visa for?
  Our immigration policies are simply out of control. We have hit a 
record number of immigrants coming into the country. In fact, so many 
are coming in that people with criminal records are getting by like 
they were moving through a sieve. We are filling the country with 
anybody with any excuse or reason who wants to come. People like Mr. 
Kansi are getting in by lying, false records, or whatever they want to 
present. They wind up here one way or another and we simply refuse to 
send them out.
  Our immigration policies are out of control and people are coming 
without being examined, without being checked. They are here. The World 
Trade Center bombing is an example. The shooting at the Empire State 
Building is another. The CIA killing in 1993 is another. All of these 
acts were committed by people that were willingly let into this 
country. How many instances does it take like this before we have the 
common sense to change the immigration laws that we are letting wreck 
this country?
  I think we need to take a hard look at the laws and determine if we 
are letting people into this country that are prone to commit terrorist 
acts against the Nation once they get here.
  One of the basic problems, of course, with immigration is that we 
have a more-than-generous welfare system--more than generous. People 
are coming into this country not to work, but to sit down. They are 
coming here to become part of our welfare system, not to become part of 
our work force. When we attempted to change our welfare laws and cut 
off cash assistance to noncitizens, the Congress got frightened, and we 
decided it was being too harsh not to give cash money to noncitizens. 
How cruel could we be not to hand out cash to an illegal noncitizen? We 
have perpetrated an immigration system that is out of control.
  Madam President, we know that there are many people who want to be 
Americans. Many people want to come here and make a contribution to the 
United States. We have a long history of immigration. We are all 
descendents of immigrants from somewhere at one time, except Native 
Americans. But somewhere we have gone wrong. At one point, people came 
to this country to work and to labor and be a part of it. But now they 
come to be a part of charity. I think we began to go wrong when we lost 
common sense in our immigration policies.
  Madam President, I think the problem began when we lost common sense 
altogether in the Government, and particularly with the welfare 
programs supporting the things that these people were coming for. Why 
should we give noncitizens welfare? Why should the Federal Government 
punish a county or town if they don't print documents in languages 
other than English? Madam President, we do that.
  Why do we have pages and pages of legislative language just to define 
the word ``work.'' I think anybody that has done a day's work would not 
need 14 pages of legalese language to describe it. Madam President, 
again, I want to thank the agents with the CIA and the FBI that played 
a role in bringing this man back to the United States. They represent 
what is best about the country. But the immigration laws that allowed 
Mr. Kansi to get into this country and to stay here represent the 
worst.
  I thank the Chair and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER [Mr. Faircloth]. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  (The remarks of Mr. Specter pertaining to the introduction of S. 934 
and S. 935 are located in today's Record under ``Statements on 
Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. SPECTER. I thank the Chair. I yield the floor.
  In the absence of any other Senator present, I suggest the absence of 
a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Santorum). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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