[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 63 (Friday, May 19, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E777]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




THE IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE DATA MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT 
                              ACT OF 2000

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 18, 2000

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be an original cosponsor of 
the Immigration and Naturalization Service Data Management Improvement 
Act of 2000.
  This bill would eliminate the present provisions of section 110 of 
the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 
1996, which requires the establishment of a new entry-exit data 
collection system at land, sea, and air borders to our country. The 
bill replaces the requirement for the implementation of a new data 
collection system with the implementation of an ``integrated entry and 
exit data system'' using currently available data.
  I welcome this important change in the provisions of section 110. 
This is an issue of great concern to the people and businesses of 
Michigan and other border states. Studies have revealed that carrying 
out the mandate of section 110 to create a new entry-exit data 
collection system would cause massive traffic congestion along our 
borders, bringing personal and business travel at many border points to 
a halt. This would have a crippling effect on trade and tourism.
  I also would like to note for the record my understanding of a 
technical issue. The bill includes an implementation deadline for high-
traffic land border ports of entry. With regard to land border 
crossings, I have been assured that the implementation provision in the 
deadline only refers to the ``Arrival-Departure Records'' (Form I-94) 
that already are issued to some foreign nationals when they enter the 
United States and that the deadline provision does not in any way 
impose a requirement on the Attorney General to develop a new system 
for collecting exit data at land borders.
  The Immigration and Naturalization Service Data Management 
Improvement Act of 2000 is a far preferable alternative to the onerous 
data collection requirements of the existing version of section 110 of 
IIRIRA. I look forward to working with Representative Lamar Smith in 
seeing that this important change is passed into law this Congress.

                          ____________________