Alan Simpson

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, let me commend the Senator from California for the fine work that she has done here in conjunction with the Senator from Arizona, Senator Kyl. Both of you committed to the same objective, both of you from States heavily affected, both of you more aware of these things than any of us in this Chamber. I insist in these remarks of all these past months that if there are people that understand illegal immigration any better than the people of Texas, California, Florida, and Illinois--although not on the border of our country but yet one of the large States with a large number of formally undocumented persons; that I think has been corrected; but a large and sometimes vexing population. I think you have resolved that to the betterment of all.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I have a unanimous-consent request cleared with the minority. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to make two minor technical corrections to two provisions of amendment No. 3866 to the bill, S. 1664. The first correction corrects a printing error, by which a provision belonging in one section of the amendment No. 3866 was inadvertently placed in a different section. The second correction is a minor change in the wording. These two corrections have been cleared on both sides, and I ask unanimous consent that they be accepted.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I think we can go forward. We now, so that our colleagues will be aware, are in a position to vote on three amendments. We will likely do that in a short period of time. The Feinstein amendment has been resolved. There is a Simon amendment on disability deeming, a Simon amendment on retroactivity deeming, and the Graham amendment that we have just been debating with regard to 2-year deeming. We have many of our colleagues who apparently are involved with the Olympic activities tonight passing on the torch, and some other activity. There is a Gramm amendment on the Border Patrol and a Hutchison amendment on Border Patrol. Those will be accepted. There is a Robb amendment which will be accepted. I inquire of the Senator from Florida if he has any further amendments. At one time there was a list. I wonder if there is any further amendment other than the pending amendment from the Senator from Florida.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I thank our remarkable staff. And Elizabeth certainly is one of the most remarkable. I think we can get a vote here in the next few minutes on three amendments which are 15 minutes in original time and 10 on the second two with a lock-in of tomorrow to take care of the rest of the amendments on this bill. We may proceed a bit tonight with the debate. That will be resolved shortly. But the Senator from Florida has one rather sweeping amendment on which we will need further debate, will we not; more than 15 minutes perhaps?

Mr. SIMPSON. I see. I would probably have that much on the other side. Then I have one with Senator Kennedy and share with my colleagues that I do have a place holder amendment. It is my intention, unless anyone responds to this, not at this time but tomorrow--you will recall that Senator Moynihan placed an amendment at the time of the welfare bill with regard to the Social Security system having a study, that they should begin to do something in that agency to determine how to make that card more tamper resistant. It was cosponsored by Senator Dole. It passed unanimously here. That would be an amendment that I have the ability to enter unless it is exceedingly contentious. I intend to do so because it certainly is one that is not strange to us, and the date of its original passage was--so that the staff may be aware of the measure, that was in the Congressional Record of September 8, 1995, page S12915, directing the Commissioner to develop--this is not something that is immediate--to be done in a year, and a study and a report will come back. There is nothing sinister with regard to it, but it is important to consider that. We have an amendment of Senator Robb, and apparently an objection to that amendment from that side of the aisle. I hope that might be resolved. Let me go forward and accept the Gramm amendment, the Hutchison amendment, and if you have those, I will send them to the desk. Amendment No. 3948 to Amendment No. 3743 (Purpose: To express the sense of the Congress regarding the critical role of interior Border Patrol stations in the agency's enforcement mission) On behalf of Senators Gramm and Hutchison, I send an amendment to the desk.

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

Mr. SIMPSON. This amendment has been cleared by both sides of the aisle. It has to do with the Border Patrol, and I urge its adoption. Mr. GRAHAM addressed the Chair.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, that would be the Hutchison amendment, not this amendment.

Mr. SIMPSON. Yes. The one that is before the body is the sense of the Congress regarding the critical role of the interior Border Patrol saying that it plays a key role in apprehending and deporting undocumented aliens and plays a critical role in the agency's enforcement mission and serves as a valuable second line of defense. Redeployment of Border Patrol agents at interior stations would not be cost-effective, and it is unnecessary in view of plans to nearly double the Border Patrol agents over the next 5 years, and INS should hire, train, and assign new staff based on a strong Border Patrol presence, both on the Southwest border and interior stations that support border enforcement.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, we can all have more than one amendment. I hope the Senator from Florida will assist us in buttoning this down. If there is another amendment or two other amendments, let us button it down and get it to rest. We do have a Robb amendment, I say to the Senator from Massachusetts, which has an objection on that side of the aisle.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, perhaps we could go ahead--since there was no objection to that amendment, I certainly withhold the other one because it does address what the Senator from Florida is saying. So I urge adoption of the pending amendment.

Mr. SIMPSON. Withdrawn?

Mr. SIMPSON. And now I have a unanimous-consent request to propose. I ask unanimous consent that votes occur on or in relation to the following amendments at 7:15 p.m., with 2 minutes equally divided for debate between each vote: Simon amendment No. 3810, Simon amendment No. 3813, Graham amendment No. 3764.

Mr. SIMPSON. Now, with that having been accomplished, we will I think be able to accommodate you, all of our colleagues, by finding out tonight and wrapping up everything so that we will finish this measure tomorrow. That will be I think attainable from what I see at the table, and I think my colleague from Massachusetts will agree. And we will then proceed at 7:15. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 60 minutes of Senator Daschle's time be allotted for Senator Graham and 60 minutes of Senator Dole's time be allotted to myself.

Mr. SIMPSON. There is a Hutchison amendment which has been questioned by the Senator from Florida. There is a Simpson-Kennedy amendment with regard to verification. And then there is a place holder amendment which I intend to present, the Moynihan-Dole amendment, which passed unanimously in September, to allow the Social Security Administration to begin, nothing more, a study to determine how in the future we are to make that system more tamper resistant. It is not anything that goes into place. It is a report. And those who were involved at the time will recall. That is what I have. That is the extent of it.

Mr. SIMPSON. That is being done at the present time, all of that.

Mr. SIMPSON. This matter will be concluded. The staffs on both sides of the aisle are working to present that to us in a few moments, to tighten and button down a complete agreement on time agreements and unanimous consent.

Mr. SIMPSON. I think that would be the case. The leader is not here, but I think conjecture would have it be so.

Mr. SIMPSON. I thank my colleagues. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, let me ask unanimous consent, in the voting to take place at 7:15, that the first vote at 7:15 be 15 minutes and the subsequent votes 10 minutes each.

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

Mr. SIMPSON. It is true that individuals already in the country will not be the beneficiaries of new legally enforceable sponsor agreements that will be required after enactment. It is also true that some of those, those who have been here less than 5 years, will nevertheless be subject to at least a portion of the minimum 5-year deeming period. I remind my colleagues, however, that no immigrant is admitted to the United States if the immigrant does not provide adequate assurance to the consular officer and commissioner and the immigration inspector that he or she is not likely to become a public charge. In effect, that is a promise to the American people that they will not become a burden to the taxpayers, under any circumstance.

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

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, this amendment, like so many others before, would reduce the sponsor's responsibility for their immigrant relatives they bring to the United States on the basis that they will not become a public charge. This amendment would nearly eliminate deeming for Medicaid, the most costly and expensive of all of the welfare programs. Medicaid deeming would be limited to 2 years. The sponsors who promised to provide the needed assistance should pay the health care assistance, as long as they have the assets to do so. Otherwise, the taxpayers pick up the tab.