[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 46 (Wednesday, April 12, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S2619]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REID (for himself and Mr. Kennedy):
  S. 2407. A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act with 
respect to the record of admission for permanent residence in the case 
of certain aliens; to the Committee on the Judiciary.


                      DATE OF REGISTRY ACT OF 2000

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise today along with the Senior Senator 
from Massachusetts, Mr. Kennedy, to introduce the Date of Registry Act 
of 2000.
  The Date of Registry Act of 2000, complements similar legislation I 
introduced last year in an effort to fix a terrible mistake made by the 
Congress in 1996. Tucked into the massive piece of legislation known as 
IIRA IRA, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility 
Act of 1996, was an obscure, but lethal, provision which stripped the 
federal courts of jurisdiction to adjudicate legalization claims 
against the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Most troubling is 
the fact that this provision nullified legitimate claims based upon 
substantiated evidence that the Immigration and Nationalization Service 
had bypassed Congressional intent in denying benefits to certain 
undocumented persons who have come to be known as the ``late amnesty'' 
class of immigrants. Through this limitation, Section 377 of IIRA IRA 
has caused significant hardships, and denied due process and 
fundamental fairness, for hundreds of thousands of hard working 
immigrants, including several thousand in my home State of Nevada. 
These are good, hard-working people who have been in the United States 
and had been paying taxes for more than ten years, who suddenly lost 
their jobs and the ability to support their families.
  In an effort to repeal the limitation on judicial jurisdiction 
imposed by Section 377 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant 
Responsibility Act of 1996, I introduced S. 1552, the Legal Amnesty 
Restoration Act of 1999. In addition to repealing Section 377, S. 1552 
would also change the date of registry for those immigrants seeking 
legalized, documented status in the United States from January 1, 1972, 
to January 1, 1984. The legislation I am introducing today focuses on 
this aspect of last year's legislation, and would change the date of 
registry from January 1, 1972, to January 1, 1986.
  The date of registry exists as a matter of public policy, with the 
recognition that immigrants who have remained in the country 
continuously for an extended period of time--in some cases, up to 
thirty years--are highly unlikely to leave. Today, we must accept the 
reality that many of the people living in the United States are 
undocumented immigrants who have been here for quite a long time. 
Consequently, many people living in this country do not pay their fair 
share of taxes because they are unable to work legally. Furthermore, 
the businesses who employ these undocumented persons also do not pay 
their fair share of taxes. These are the facts, and coupled with the 
knowledge that we can't simply solve this problem by wishing that it 
will go away, is the reality we must face when considering our 
immigration policies.
  We last changed the date of registry in 1986, with the passage of the 
Immigration Reform and Control Act, which changed the date to January 
1, 1972. In doing so, the 99th Congress employed the same rationale I 
have outlined above in support of a registry date change. Furthermore, 
I have mirrored the 99th Congress in another, critical aspect, by 
establishing an approximate fifteen-year differential between the date 
of enactment and the updated date of registry.
  Mr. President, I should note one more thing about the Immigration 
Reform and Control Act of 1986. That legislation which last changed the 
date of registry was passed by a Democratic House of Representatives 
and a Republican Senate, and was signed into law by President Reagan. I 
mention these facts to highlight my hope that support for this 
legislation will be bi-partisan and based upon our desire to ensure 
fundamental fairness as a matter of public policy in this country.
  Finally, the legislation I am introducing today builds upon the 
fifteen year differential standard established in the 1986 reform 
legislation by implementing a ``rolling registry'' date which would 
sunset in five years without Congressional reauthorization. In other 
words, on January 2002, the date of registry would automatically change 
to January 1, 1987, thereby maintaining the fifteen year differential. 
The date of registry would continue to change on a rolling basis 
through January 1, 2006, when the date of registry would be January 1, 
1991. Limiting this annual, automatic change to five years will allow 
the Congress to examine both the positive and negative effects of a 
rolling date of registry and make an informed decision on 
reauthorization.
  Mr. President, as I stated when I introduced S. 1552 last year, I 
don't pretend that this legislation will solve all the problems of our 
immigration and legalization procedures. However, we have an obligation 
to face our problems, and the reality is that there are many, many 
undocumented immigrants who live in this country who would be much more 
productive contributors to American society if they were legal 
residents, workers and taxpayers. We know this to be true, as evidenced 
by the thousands of immigrants in Southern Nevada whose status had yet 
to be adjusted, but were working legally and paying taxes--in some 
instances for more than ten years--when their employment permits were 
revoked as a result of the 1996 IIRA IRA legislation. I have met with 
many of these people on several occasions and I have witnessed, 
firsthand, their pain and genuine suffering. Good people who have 
worked hard and paid their taxes in order to live the American dream 
only to see their efforts turn into a nightmare.
  As I stated when I introduced S. 1552 last year, I don't pretend that 
my legislation will solve all the problems of immigration and 
legalization policies. However, we must face these problems head on, 
and that is precisely my intent in introducing this legislation today.
                                 ______