J. Exon

Mr. EXON

Mr. EXON. I yield to the Senator from Wyoming when he gets the floor.

Mr. EXON. How much time do I have remaining?

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I apologize to the managers of the bill. I did not mean to delay them. I stepped off the floor for the first time for 10 minutes assuming there were other measures ahead of mine. But I am now prepared to offer my amendment. I offered this amendment last week. I made a concise statement at that time. I believe that I have 5 minutes under the unanimous-consent agreement. Is that correct?

Mr. EXON

Mr. EXON. Sure. With the understanding I be recognized sometime prior to 5 p.m.

Mr. EXON. Reserving the right to object, may I please have an understanding of what the procedure is? The Senator from Nebraska also has an amendment to offer that I have been waiting to offer for some time. I am not in any particular rush. Are we setting up an order? If the unanimous consent request is granted, as I understand it, there would be some motion taken up offered by the Senators from North Carolina and Utah, and following that we will go to the Senator from California; is that correct?

Mr. EXON. With that understanding, I have no objection, and after the vote on the Boxer amendment I will proceed at that time.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I rise today to offer an amendment to the pending welfare reform bill to address the issue of payment of Federal benefits to illegal aliens. I have talked with the managers of the bill, and I have agreed to offer it now, to briefly debate the matter, and we will schedule a vote and possibly limited debate sometime next week as we move through the whole series of amendments we have pending. Mr. President, I introduced a similar measure, S. 918, earlier in this Congress. As many Senators know, I have long supported blocking Federal benefits to illegal aliens as a matter of both sound immigration policy and as a matter of sound fiscal policy. I have introduced this measure as either a stand-alone bill or as an amendment in every Congress since 1989. In 1993, when we debated the comprehensive crime bill, the Senate accepted my amendment to restrict benefits to illegal aliens by a vote of 85 to 2. Unfortunately, Mr. President, the provision was dropped in conference with the House of Representatives. Simply stated, my amendment says that Federal benefits shall not be paid or provided to those not lawfully present within the United States. My [[Page S 12899]] amendment is well crafted to only deny illegals the benefit of Federal support and specifically defines who is a person lawfully present within the United States. My amendment also provides for a number of exemptions. Federal funds could be provided to illegal aliens for emergency medical services, disaster relief, school lunches, child nutrition and immunization. Sick people would not be turned away at the hospital emergency rooms, nor would the public health be threatened by a communicable disease. We must draw the line and say that illegal aliens should not be receiving scarce resources except for true emergencies and public health concerns. Also, States would not be obligated to provide benefits to those not lawfully present in our country. Following the publishing of the rules by the Attorney General, the States would have 2 years to comply with the verification requirements, and necessary funds would be authorized. It should be noted that the long-awaited report of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, headed by former Representative Barbara Jordan, has generally recommended that illegal aliens not receive publicly funded services or assistance. Mr. President, it is true that many Federal programs specifically exclude by statute illegal aliens in their criteria for eligibility, but in many cases the benefits continue to flow to these illegal aliens due to the expansive and misguided agency regulations and court interpretation. Many Federal programs allow benefits to go to aliens permanently residing in the United States under color of law. However, this category is not defined by statute, and the categories of aliens it covers vary from program to program because various court decisions have defined it differently. I am sure that my fellow colleagues are well aware of the published growing concern with our country's haphazard immigration policy and porous border. I believe this debate over welfare reform provides us with a golden opportunity to create a new and more coherent policy regarding immigrants and to stop, once and for all, the payment of benefits to illegal aliens. The Senate appears ready to give the States more flexibility and responsibility to oversee Federal programs. I think it is only fair that in exchange for the increased flexibility and discretion, the Federal Government should ask the States to stand with us in verifying immigrant status and help identify illegal aliens. With the assistance of the States in the verification process, few illegals will receive benefits. And both Federal and State budgets will reflect those savings. It is the simple fact that a deported alien will not be available to collect welfare benefits that are desperately needed by many of our citizens. Mr. President, in my opinion, the Federal Government and the States have been working at cross-purposes in enforcing our immigration laws. The States have decried the inability of the Federal Government to police our borders. Yet when Congress proposes dropping the payment of benefits to illegal aliens, the States complain that they will be saddled with the full cost of providing these services. It is only reasonable to require States to verify the status of applicants provided we help give them the resources to do the job. By allowing States to deny benefits to these not lawfully present and providing funds for States to set up verification systems, my amendment is actually a fully funded mandate. I believe we must do more regarding immigration reform itself. I feel strongly that deportation proceedings should be expedited, and there needs to be greater enforcement when holders of temporary visas intentionally overstay their visit. I also believe that there needs to be a stricter enforcement of sponsor affidavits and the deeming provision to ensure that immigrants will not be a burden to taxpayers. Efforts to provide better border patrols and to attack asylum abuse are also needed. The widespread abuse of identification cards by illegal aliens is a major problem. The production of false resident alien cards, drivers' licenses, and Social Security cards is a multimillion dollar national crime which only aids illegal aliens receiving Government benefits. It must be stopped. The word is out, if you want to receive welfare benefits more generous than any, come to America. Do not even bother to enter legally. By allowing the payment of benefits to illegal aliens, we have become a magnet. In the past, immigrants came to America to work hard and prosper under freedom, but today too many are coming to receive the free ride. Finally, and in closing, Mr. President, I must address briefly the overall context in which this issue is being discussed. Right now we are debating the welfare bill which will have great impact on those in our country who are in need. While I believe that our welfare system needs a major overhaul, I am concerned that those who are truly in need will bear an undue share of the burden. In these times of massive budget reductions, I must remind all that our Government is still there. It still has the responsibility to help its needy citizens. By providing Federal funds to those that are in our country illegally, we are misusing scarce resources. We simply cannot justify nor can we afford giving Federal benefits to people who are in our country illegally. Mr. President, I thank the Chair. And I will make an understanding with the managers of the bill when we will take up this matter again at the beginning of next week. I thank the Chair. I yield the floor. Mr. SHELBY addressed the Chair.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. EXON. I send the amendment to the desk at this time and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. EXON. That is what I wished to clarify. The Senator from Nebraska is ready to offer an amendment to that amendment. Amendment No. 2525 to Amendment No. 2280 (Purpose: To prohibit the payment of certain Federal benefits to any person not lawfully present within the United States, and for other purposes)

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, first, an inquiry of the Chair. As I understand it, the present measure before the Senate is the amendment numbered 2280 by Senator Dole. Is that correct?

Mr. EXON

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Heflin and Senator Shelby, I offer an amendment which would shift some funds within the Army's budget to buy more software for direct support electronic system tests.

Mr. EXON. It has been cleared on this side, and we are prepared to accept the amendment.

Mr. EXON. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 2440 (Purpose: To require the Secretary of Defense to submit a report on the feasibility of using private sources for performance of certain functions currently performed by military aircraft)

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Robb, I offer an amendment which would require the Secretary of Defense to submit a report on the feasibility of using private sources for performance of certain functions currently performed by military aircraft.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I have just been advised that Senator Breaux has asked to be a cosponsor of amendment [[Page S 12542]] 2445--as introduced and which was agreed to a few moments ago--by Senator Stevens.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, this amendment provides the military services greater flexibility to negotiate longer interim leases for the reuse of property at a closing of a military installation. This amendment allows for flexibility without eliminating important environmental protections. Mr. President, I believe this amendment has been agreed to on the other side.

Mr. EXON. I urge adoption of the amendment.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the amendment was agreed to.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. EXON. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 2450 (Purpose: To authorize the conveyance of certain parcels of real property at Fort Sheridan, IL)

Mr. EXON

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, per the arrangement that I have made with the manager of the bill, Senator Strom Thurmond, I would like to ask unanimous consent at this time that the Senator from Rhode Island be allowed to continue as if in morning business for as much time as he may need, and that following the conclusion of his remarks we return to the regular order.