[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5251-5252]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          FAMILY REUNIFICATION

  (Ms. HANABUSA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. HANABUSA. Mr. Speaker, as we begin the much-anticipated 
discussion on immigration reform, we have tended to overlook a critical 
aspect of it, and that is called family reunification.
  What's the problem? Family reunification has arbitrary caps and major 
backlogs. The caps are about 114,000 per country, and most countries 
have an average of 10 years of backlog. They're working on 2003 
applications. But there is one country that has had a greater rate, and 
that is the Philippines. This is the saddest example.
  The Filipino World War II veterans were promised full rights for 
fighting with us against the Japanese in World

[[Page 5252]]

War II. After the war, there was the Rescission Act of 1946 which took 
away that promise. In 1990, we finally made good on that promise, but 
we're processing 1989 applications to reunify these families. Many 
can't travel anymore. Many can't wait. Families are critical to the 
success of this country. Small businesses are built with families, 
values of unity, caring for elders.
  We must keep our promise.

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