Alan Simpson: “here we are again dealing with the issue of deeming. When I said that my colleagues were persistent, I did not mean to…”

“here we are again dealing with the issue of deeming. When I said that my colleagues were persistent, I did not mean to leave out Senator Paul Simon of Illinois. In my experience of 25 years knowing this likeable man, I know his persistence is indeed one of his principal attributes. He is back again with another deeming type of amendment. They are all very compassionately offered. They are carefully thought through. But, again, it is an issue we dealt with last night. It is true, and he is right; he has found this provision that individuals already in this country will not be the beneficiaries of the new legally enforceable sponsor agreements. They are going to be very strict. We have done a good job on that. The ones that will be required is after enactment. It is also true that some of them who have been here less than 5 years will nevertheless be subject to at least a portion of the minimum 5-year deeming period. Thus, there could be a case where such an individual would be unable to obtain public assistance because under deeming they neither received the promised assistance from their sponsor nor were able to sue them for support.”