Howard Berman: “First, Mr. Chairman, I want to say both to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith], chairman of the Subcommittee on…”

“First, Mr. Chairman, I want to say both to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith], chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration, and to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Bryant], the ranking Democrat, that we do have some strong differences on several aspects of this bill. But I think the debate undoubtedly during the next couple of days can get very heated on a subject which is very passionate. I just want to start out indicating that I have the greatest respect for both gentlemen from Texas. These are not Pat Buchanan clones sitting on the House floor that would seek to build walls around this country. Their proposal, while I think is much too drastic a cut in legal immigration, still recognizes legal immigration. I do not believe that it is motivated by racism or xenophobia, and I compliment both of them because they have become experts in the subject and believe sincerely in where they are coming from. We just have a fundamental difference. The rates of immigration as a percentage of the American population now are far lower than they were at any time in the 19th or early 20th century, far lower than they were at that particular time. The bill before us, we will see charts undoubtedly during the debate which will talk about backlog visas and other visas to try and show that the cuts are not severe. The fact is the cuts in legal immigration are close to 30 to 40 percent.…”