[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 61 (Wednesday, May 5, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H2554]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LIMITING FLOW OF LEGAL IMMIGRATION
(Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina asked and was given permission to
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, while I believe that
illegal immigration must be stopped, there is nothing wrong with
allowing a moderate level of legal immigration. Immigrants have
contributed greatly over the years to our Nation and our economy, and
society should accommodate several hundred thousand new legal
immigrants annually.
However, we can never realistically accept but a tiny fraction of the
tens of millions who would love to migrate here each year, and we can
no longer allow a million new legal immigrants to come and work here.
For starters, I believe that we need to reduce legal admission
numbers by ending the visa lottery and the so-called extended family
categories that fuel foreign worker inflow by chain immigration. A
positive first step at reforming our outdated immigration laws would be
to pass H.R. 775, the Goodlatte bill that repeals the visa lottery.
As a cosponsor of that bill, I urge the House of Representatives
leadership and Committee on the Judiciary to act to bring the bill
before the full House for action and to advance other legislation to
cut down legal foreign worker inflows to more moderate levels.
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